By Reuters and published by CNA
THAILAND’S annual headline inflation rate was negative for an eighth month in November, data showed on Wednesday (Dec. 3), and the Commerce Ministry said it was due to falling energy prices and government measures to alleviate the cost of living.
The headline consumer price index fell 0.49 percent in November from a year earlier, following an annual drop of 0.76 percent in the previous month. It was also the ninth consecutive month that inflation was below the central bank’s target range of 1 percent to 3 percent.
Severe flooding in parts of the country’s south had little impact on inflation, Nantapong Chiralerspong, head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a news conference.
Over the first 11 months of 2025, headline inflation was down 0.12 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Inflation next year was expected to be in a range of 0.0 percent to 1.0 percent, Nantapong said.
Economists expect the central bank to cut interest rates at a policy review on December 17, after the Bank of Thailand held its key rate steady at 1.50 percent in October.
On Monday, Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said he saw room to lower rates, but added such a move had only a limited impact on an economy facing structural problems.
CAPTIONS:
Top – Shoppers at a department store in Bangkok. Photo – Reuters/Arthit Perawongmetha and published by CNA
Front Page – Bangkok skyline at twilight. Photo – Reuters/Arthit Perawongmetha and published by CNA
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