BANGKOK, July 1 – Ampawan Pichalai, adviser to the Ministry of Commerce, said inflation in June this year fell by 0.10 per cent compared with that in May and it was the first decline in ten months.
She attributed it to the National Council for Peace and Order’s measures to control the cost of living.
Ms Ampawan cited the council’s decision to freeze diesel and household cooking gas prices and its request for manufacturers and other producers to freeze their product prices for six months.
Year-on-year inflation in June rose by 2.35 per cent and inflation in the first half of this year ran at 2.23 per cent.
The Ministry of Commerce predicts that inflation will be up by 2.53 per cent in the second half of this year on condition that the crude price stands at US$110-111 per barrel and there will not be a war between Iraq and Syria.
The ministry expects inflation to run at 2.50 per cent in the third quarter and at 2.56 per cent in the fourth quarter of this year. Throughout 2014 the ministry thinks that inflation will move between 2.00 per cent and 2.80 per cent and average 2.40 per cent.
