BANGKOK, 6 May 2015 – Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula has affirmed that the country has not entered a period of deflation.
The Deputy PM revealed that he has closely monitored the negative inflation rate, along with officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board.
He blamed the negative figure on the fall in global oil prices, which has also affected the value of precious metals. The Deputy PM also attributed baht’s appreciation to the global economic slowdown, coupled with a drop in the prices of agricultural products.
However, MR Pridiyathorn did not conclude that the country has officially entered a period of deflation. He claimed that the deflation would have to continue for another 5-6 months in order to establish a trend.
The Deputy PM was also unconcerned about the rise in household debt to 87 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, as the proportion of non-performing loans has not risen.
