Retail inflation is poised to accelerate from a 13-year high with the government lifting a freeze on some retail fuel prices, boosting the odds for the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to pivot away from its pandemic-era monetary policy accommodation.
Retail diesel prices will increase from May 1 after efforts to subsidise the fuel ended up with the Oil Fuel Fund accumulating 56 billion baht in debt. Two years of unprecedented economic stimulus to blunt the impact of the pandemic has left the administration with little fiscal room to maneuver.
