Thai PM convenes meeting to solve rising goods prices

BANGKOK, March 16 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra convened a meeting with economic authorities to work out solutions to high prices of goods, as the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) reported that inflation had increased by 0.4 per cent over the first two months of this year, partly due to a massive flooding late last year. At the meeting, Yingluck said that local consumers have complained about expensive goods, but upstream products are cheap, acknowledging that the situation has prompted protesters to block streets and she has ordered the Ministry of Commerce to solve the problem. Meanwhile, NESDB Secretary-General Arkom Termpitayapaisit said that Thailand's production has not yet been fully restored since late last year’s flooding crisis and Thai exports have dropped by 6 per cent and industrial production by 15 per cent. Arkom acknowledged, however, that domestic tourism has fully recovered with international tourist arrivals reaching 1.9 million in January 2012, an 8 per cent year-on-year increase, and that the country's overall cultivation is also problem-free, as crops in unflooded areas have been well irrigated, including those in the Northeast, although some parts of farmlands have been affected by last year's massive flooding and farm products prices have not risen significantly. Arkom reported that Thailand's inflation rates stood at 3.4 per cent on average in January and February 2012, a 0.4 per cent year-on-year increase, attributing the rising inflation partly to impacts from last year’s flooding, as from October 2011 to February 2012, the country's inflation stood around 7.4 per cent on average in the non-food sector, higher than that of the previous year. Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Prasan Triratvorakul, on the other hand, attributed the country's rising inflation to world oil price hikes and impacts from the government's planned minimum daily wage rise to 300 baht, starting from April 1, 2012. (TNA)