Thailand's headline inflation rate softened in February, driven by rising energy and food prices, official data showed on Friday.
The Southeast Asian country's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.08 percent last month from a year earlier, easing from an eight-month high of 1.32 percent in January, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, climbed 0.99 percent year-on-year in February, inching up from a 0.83 percent gain in the previous month, said Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director general of the ministry's trade policy and strategy office.
For the first two months of 2025, the headline CPI grew 1.20 percent compared to the same period last year, Poonpong told a news conference.
The headline inflation growth is expected to maintain its pace in March, fueled by a higher price ceiling for diesel, an ongoing recovery in the tourism sector, and increased prices of upstream raw materials for certain agricultural products, Poonpong said.
However, he noted that lower crude oil prices in the global market, the government's measures to ease living expenses, and last year's high base price of fresh vegetables are key factors decelerating inflation.
The ministry maintains its projection for headline inflation to range between 0.3 percent and 1.3 percent in 2025.