Muscat: Latest reports released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) show inflation rates increased across the GCC region between 1.53 per cent and 2.8 per cent over a 12-month period through April 2014. Qatar topped the list with an inflation rate of 2.8 per cent for the same period, followed by Kuwait with 2.72 per cent, Saudi Arabia with 2.7 per cent, the UAE with 2.12 per cent, Bahrain with 1.9 per cent, and Oman with 1.53 per cent.
When weighed against March 2014 figures, Oman topped the list with an increase of 0.58 per cent, followed by 0.3 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 0.25 per cent in the UAE, 0.2 per cent in Qatar, and 0.08 per cent in Kuwait. Bahrain was the only country in the GCC region to witness decline in inflation rates where it recorded 0.7 per cent in the month of April 2014, compared to the previous month.
As for price growth within different categories of the general consumer price index in each GCC member state, figures revealed an increase over the 12-month period through April 2014 as follows: Education increased by 5.0 per cent in Bahrain and 4.56 per cent in the UAE.
Medical Care in the UAE recorded a decrease of 0.09 per cent, while Communication in Bahrain showed a 0.6 per cent decrease, The overall figures revealed an increase in the Furniture and Household category through April 2014 where Oman came first with 7.52 per cent, followed by Qatar with 5.1 per cent, as 4.9 per cent was registered in Kuwait, 4.5 per cent in the UAE, 4.4 per cent in Saudi Arabia, and prices in Bahrain slightly raised by 0.5 per cent.
