BANGKOK (Sept 7): Thailand's headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.53% in August from a year earlier, following an annual rise of 1.95% in the previous month, the commerce ministry said on Monday.

The August reading compared with a forecast increase of 2.37% in a Reuters poll, and was inside the central bank's target inflation range of 1% to 3%.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 1.44% in August from a year earlier, close to the 1.39% seen in the poll.

Headline CPI is expected to continue rising, Nantapong Chiralerspong, head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a briefing.

The ministry maintained its full-year inflation forecast of 1.5% to 2.5% this year.

Headline inflation is seen at 2.37% in the third quarter and 2.70% in the last quarter of the year, Nantapong said.

Bank of Thailand governor Vitai Ratanakorn said last week that monetary policy was fully accommodative and appropriate for the economy.

The Bank of Thailand last month left its key interest rate unchanged at 1.00%, saying economic growth was low and uneven. The next rate meeting is on Oct 28.

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