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Abu Dhabi inflation climbs 3 per cent

ABU DHABI — The consumer price index, or CPI, reached 118.22 points in May against 114.75 in the same month last year, the Centre’s monthly CPI report showed.

The Centre, part of the capital’s Department of Economic Development, said that the month-over-month rise in May was 0.28 per cent, while it grew 2.33 per cent in the January-May period.

Education led the upward trend, advancing 20.1 per cent. Food and beverages rose 6.7 per cent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels were up 5.5 per cent, while transport jumped 5.1 per cent.

On the other hand, communications showed a decline of 11.3 per cent, due to a drop in the prices of telephone and telefax services. The mail services, telephone and telefax equipment subgroups shed 11.3, 9.6 and 6.4 per cent, respectively.

Prices of the clothing and footwear group declined by 6.4 per cent, as clothing dipped 5.3 per cent and footwear slid 17.4 per cent.

The report points to a relative stability in the prices of most of the main expenditure groups during the month of May compared to April, despite an increase of three per cent in transport and 0.2 per cent in miscellaneous goods and services, pushing CPI up 0.28 per cent.

At the end of the first five months, the Centre’s report saw inflation at 2.33 per cent compared with the same period last year, reflecting the net change in consumer basket prices during the two periods compared.

The rise in the prices of transport resulted from the rise of oil prices.

haseeb@khaleejtimes.com