Inflation rises marginally

The increase in inflation was driven by a rise in cost of major segments, such as food and non-alcoholic beverages housing, water and electricity.

MUSCAT: The inflation rate in the Sultanate, calculated in terms of consumer price index (CPI), increased by 0.18 per cent in February 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI) on CPI. It also stated that the inflation rate fell by 0.10 per cent compared to January 2019.

The increase in inflation was driven by a rise in cost of major segments, such as food and nonalcoholic beverages by 1.07 per cent, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels by 0.37 per cent, restaurants and hotels by 0.60 per cent, clothing and footwear by 0.25 per cent, education by 2.02 per cent, recreation and culture by 0.40 per cent, and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance by 4.46 per cent.

However, the prices of health; transport; communication; and miscellaneous goods and services fell by 0.49 per cent; 1.41 per cent; 0.36 per cent; and 2.18 per cent, respectively, in February 2019 compared to the same month of the previous year.

Among foods and non-alcoholic beverages group, a marked fall of 1.63 per cent and 0.15 per cent was witnessed in fish and seafood products and fruit, respectively. The price of vegetables rose by 10.25 per cent. Milk, cheese and eggs also witnessed a rise in price by 0.81 per cent.

The prices of non-alcoholic beverages also rose by 0.26 per cent in February 2019 against the same period of 2018.