Thai August headline CPI rises 2.53% on year, above forecast

Thailand's headline consumer price index climbed 2.53% year on year in August, the commerce ministry announced on Monday. The wire report noted that the reading quickened from 1.95% in the previous month. It also topped the 2.37% estimate gathered in a Reuters poll.

The core measure, which strips out volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 1.44% over the same period, near the 1.39% expected in the poll. The reading stayed inside the central bank's 1% to 3% target range. The ministry kept its full-year forecast at 1.5% to 2.5%.

Trade Policy and Strategy Office head Nantapong Chiralerspong said headline inflation should keep rising, with 2.37% expected in the third quarter and 2.70% in the final quarter. Central bank governor Vitai Ratanakorn called monetary policy fully accommodative and appropriate last week. The Bank of Thailand kept its key rate at 1.00% last month, citing low and uneven growth, and its next policy meeting falls on October 28.