Inflation rate rises a tad in Jan

MUSCAT: The inflation rate in the Sultanate, calculated in terms of consumer price index (CPI), increased by 0.23 per cent in January compared to the same month in 2018, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI) on consumer prices’ index.

It also stated that the inflation rate fell by 0.41 per cent compared to December 2018.

The increase in inflation was driven by a rise in cost of major segments, such as housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 0.52 per cent; food and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.76 per cent; restaurants and hotels by 0.27 per cent; education by 2.02 per cent; and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance by 4.09 per cent.

However, the prices of health, clothing and footwear, transport, communication and miscellaneous goods and services dropped by 4.71 per cent, 0.45 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.35 per cent, and 2.01 per cent, respectively, in January 2019 compared to the same month of the previous year.

Among foods and non-alcoholic beverages group, a marked fall of 5.17 per cent was witnessed in fish and fish products.

The price of vegetables rose by 7.6 per cent and those of fruit by 1.39 per cent. Milk, cheese and eggs also witnessed a rise in price by 0.64 per cent.

The prices of non-alcoholic beverages also rose by 0.29 per cent in January 2019 against the same period of 2018.