BANGKOK - THAILAND'S annual inflation rate fell to a 14-month low of 2.2 per cent in November thanks to a drop in oil prices plus petrol price subsidies, Commerce Ministry data showed on Monday.

The rise in the consumer price index from a year earlier was lower than the 2.6 per cent forecast in a Reuters poll last week and compared with 3.9 per cent in October and a 10-year high of 9.2 per cent in July.

The central bank is expected to cut its key interest rate by at least 25 basis points to 3.50 per cent on Wednesday after leaving it unchanged at the last meeting in October.

The rapid fall in inflation in recent months has allowed the Bank of Thailand to switch its focus to the economy, which is slowing sharply due to the global slump and domestic political unrest.

Annual core inflation was 2.0 per cent in November, down from 2.4 per cent in October. Economists had predicted 2.2 per cent. -- REUTERS