BANGKOK, 8 April 2012 – The Commerce Ministry has assured consumers that there will not be any upward price adjustment anytime soon, while suggesting that Thailand’s inflation is the fairest in Southeast Asia.
Permanent Secretary for Commerce Yanyong Phuangrach said that the Ministry has not agreed to allow any business adjusting up prices since the new daily minimum wage of 300 baht was put into effect on April 1st.
Mr. Yanyong said that the higher labor cost has not proven to pose direct impact on goods prices even though some labor-intensive businesses, such as student uniform manufacturers and electrical appliance producers, are inevitably feeling the pinch.
He added that the Ministry has also not green-lighted a price increase by seafood and chicken meat producers, because their products are intended for exports and price adjustment should be able to delay for some time.
The Permanent Secretary for Commerce went on to say that the latest inspection of prices found that there has been an on-year increase of 5.39 percent for fresh food items and of 4.7 percent for energy, both of which are lower than last year’s records of 8.6 percent and 5.59 percent, respectively.
Mr. Yanyong said that the Commerce Ministry is maintaining the 2012 inflationary target at 3.8 percent, which shows that Thailand’s inflation is the best in the Southeast Asian region.
