Muscat: The GGC inflation index recorded rates that ranged between -0.40 per cent in the Sultanate of Oman and 4.32 per cent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) compared to the same month of 2014, based on the latest statistics issued by the GCC-Stat. Among GCC member states, the highest inflation rate was recorded in the United Arab Emirates at 4.32 per cent, followed by Kuwait at 3.32 per cent, the Kingdom of Bahrain at 2.4 per cent, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at 2.1 per cent, and Qatar at 0.87 per cent, while the Sultanate of Oman recorded a decline to 0.40 per cent.

Compared with the general index of April 2015, the inflation index of May 2015 shows a slight increase in Qatar by 0.56 per cent, the United Arab Emirates by 0.27 per cent, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 0.2 per cent each, and the State of Kuwait by 0.07 per cent.

Meanwhile, inflation declined in the Sultanate of Oman by 0.04 per cent. Compared with the same month last year, the prices of the ‘Food and beverage’ group increased in May 2015 in most of the GCC countries; in the Kingdom of Bahrain by 2.9 per cent, followed by Kuwait with 2.61 per cent, the United Arab Emirates by 1.43 per cent, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1.4 per cent, and the State of Qatar by 0.60 per cent. In contrast, prices of this group fell in the Sultanate of Oman by 1.45 per cent. In May 2015, the ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ group showed an overall increase across all GCC member states compared with the same month last year, rising by 9.38 per cent in the United Arab Emirates, followed by 7.7 per cent in the Kingdom of Bahrain, 6.35 per cent in Kuwait, 3.1 per cent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2.27 per cent in Qatar, and finally by 0.16 per cent in Sultanate of Oman.

The ‘Transport’ group also recorded an increase in some GCC countries during the month of May 2015 compared to the same month of the previous year, as the transport prices rose in Qatar by 2.85 per cent, the United Arab Emirates by 1.36 per cent, and the Kuwait by 0.64 per cent, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 0.5 per cent. On the other hand, transport prices decreased in the Sultanate of Oman by 0.55 per cent, and the Kingdom of Bahrain by 0.1 per cent. The data showed that the highest price rises among the main expenditure groups by country in May 2015 compared with the same month last year were as follows: The ‘Tobacco’ group in Kuwait increased by 12.09 per cent, followed by the ‘Education’ group in both Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman by 11.14 per cent and 4.49 per cent respectively, the ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ group in both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain by 9.38 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively, and the ‘culture and entertainment’ group in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 6.9 per cent. On the other hand, the data indicated that the largest price decreases among the major expenditure groups in each of the GCC countries in May 2015 compared with the same month last year were as follows: the ‘culture and entertainment’ group in both Qatar and Bahrain fell by 6.51 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, the ‘clothing and footwear’ in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait by 2.38 per cent, 1.26 per cent and 0.92 per cent respectively, and the ‘restaurants and hotels’ in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by 1.2 per cent.