Thai January headline inflation seen easing to 0.27 percent; December factory output growth to dip - Reuters Poll

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's annual headline inflation rate in January may have slowed from the previous month and stayed below the central bank's target range for a third straight month, while factory out growth likely eased in December, a Reuters poll showed.

The median forecast of 12 economists was for the headline consumer price index (CPI) to rise 0.27 percent in January from a year earlier after December's 0.36 percent increase.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has forecast 2019 headline inflation of 1.0 percent, against its 1-4 percent target range.

The core inflation rate, which strips out energy and fresh food prices, was seen at 0.70 percent in January, after December's 0.68 percent, according to the poll.

Thailand's manufacturing production index in December probably rose 0.8 percent from a year earlier, after increasing 0.98 percent in November.

In December, the BOT raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than seven years, by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent. It will next review policy on Feb. 6.

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)