Thai floods push inflation higher

BANGKOK, Nov 1 (AFP): Thai inflation edged up in October, government data showed today, as the country's worst flooding in decades caused widespread damage to farmland and forced food prices higher. The consumer price index rose 4.19 per cent in the month from a year earlier, against a 4.03 per cent rise in September, the commerce ministry reported. "Floods have seriously affected (the supply of) fresh vegetables and eggs because the floods have destroyed farms and plantations," the ministry told journalists. Three months of unusually heavy monsoon rains have inundated large swathes of the country, killing more than 380 people and affecting the homes and livelihoods of millions. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, jumped 2.89 per cent compared with last year. The ministry said it expected the floods would push overall inflation for the whole 2011 up 0.1 point to 3.8 per cent.