This is the highest rise in the last 4 years and the highest in the ASEAN so far this year, and is thought to be caused by soaring food prices during the Lunar New Year holidays, high demand for rice for exports, the impact of rising global oil prices, and hikes in electricity and healthcare prices.
But inflation is expected to remain low or even be negative in the next few months. Nevertheless, some latent factors could still affect prices, particularly rising demands for agro-products such as rice and tra fish in both domestic and foreign markets.
