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Cost of housing, utilities rise in Abu Dhabi

Dubai - The increase in consumer prices during February 2016 resulted in a rise in consumer prices for households at the bottom and middle welfare levels and increase for the top welfare level.

Abu Dhabi inflation witnessed a 3.4 per cent year-on-year increase in February, according to the Statistics Centre of Abu Dhabi.
The consumer price index (CPI) increased from 102 points in February 2015 to 105.5 points in February 2016, according to the data released on Saturday.
This increase reflects the net outcome of the rise and fall in the prices of goods and services comprising the consumer basket during February.
'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels' recorded the largest rise (8.2 per cent), followed by the 'restaurants and hotels' group (up six per cent), 'miscellaneous goods and services' (up 3.3 per cent) and 'food and beverages' (up 1.7 per cent).
The data indicates that consumer prices nudged down 0.2 per cent in February 2016 compared with January 2016. The largest contributors to this reduction were the 'transport' group (down 1.6 per cent) and the 'food and beverages' group (down 0.3 per cent).
The 3.4 per cent increase in consumer prices during February 2016 compared with February 2015 by welfare level resulted in a rise of 3.6 per cent in consumer prices for households at the bottom and middle welfare levels and 3.4 per cent increase for the top welfare level.
Detailed by welfare level, the 0.2 per cent reduction in consumer prices during February 2016 compared with January 2016 is reflected in falls of 0.3 per cent in consumer prices for households at the bottom welfare level, 0.2 per cent at the middle welfare level and 0.1 per cent at the top welfare level.
The 3.4 per cent increase in consumer prices during February 2016 by household type impacted consumer prices for citizen households by 3.1 per cent.
The corresponding increases were 3.6 per cent for non-citizen households and 4.2 per cent for sharing households.
In Abu Dhabi region, the CPI increased by four per cent in February 2016, compared with February 2015, but fell by 0.2 per cent in February 2016 compared with January 2016.
The largest contributors to this fall were the 'transport' group (down 1.5 per cent) and the 'food and beverages' group (down 0.8 per cent).
In Al Ain region, the CPI increased by 2.8 per cent in February 2016 compared with February 2015, but fell by 0.1 per cent in February 2016 compared with January 2016.
The largest contributor to this fall was the transport group (down 1.6 percent).
Rents ended 2015 about four per cent higher than at the start of the year, driven by price rises for smaller, more affordable homes, according to real estate services broker CBRE.
- business@khaleejtimes.com