Government pushes for higher inflation range ahead of central bank meeting

Thailand’s inflation target should work to lift inflation above 1%, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with the central bank governor where he hoped to be able to reach an agreement on a new target range.
Mr Pichai and Bank of Thailand (BoT) governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, along with officials, are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the inflation target.
The government has pushed for a higher inflation goal from the current 1% to 3% range to spur a sluggish economy, while the central bank has insisted the target, which has been in place since 2020, has worked well for the economy.
Ahead of the meeting, Deputy Minister of Finance Paopoom Rojanasakul said inflation was too low and the target range should be higher.
In the January-to-September period, average annual headline inflation was 0.20%, well below the target range.
Earlier this month, the BoT unexpectedly cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, the first reduction since 2020 in October.
The government had been pressing all year for a cut, saying interest rates had stymied activity. The central bank had responded that structural issues were weighing on growth.
Mr Pichai and Mr Sethaput met earlier this month in a meeting that lasted nearly two hours where Pichai said they discussed debt and liquidity issues.