Thai August headline CPI drops 0.79% y/y, bigger fall than forecast

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s headline consumer price index dropped 0.79% in August from a year earlier, after the previous month’s annual fall of 0.7%, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

The figure compared with a forecast decline of 0.7% in a Reuters poll, and was below the central bank’s inflation target range of 1% to 3%.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy prices, rose 0.81% in August from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Thanadech Staporncharnchai; Editing by John Mair)