BANGKOK, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's headline consumer inflation rose at a lower-than-expected pace of 4.65 percent in April, official data showed Thursday.
The pace of growth moderated from March's rise of 5.73 percent, the steepest increase since September 2008, driven by higher energy and fresh food prices.
On a monthly basis, the country's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.34 percent in April, with the pace of increase also easing from March's 0.66 percent growth, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, was up 2 percent year on year in April, unchanged from the previous month, according to the ministry.
For the first four months of the year, the CPI climbed 4.71 percent from a year earlier, while the core CPI grew 1.58 percent year on year.
Despite April's price hike slowdown, the ministry expected the headline inflation growth to further pick up in May following the ending of the government's cap on diesel prices while the global energy prices would continue to hover at high levels.
Thailand's CPI growth has remained above the central bank's 2022 target range of 1-3 percent for four consecutive months. In March, the Bank of Thailand raised its inflation forecast for this year to 4.9 percent, up from the projection of 1.7 percent it made in December. ■