No quick end to inflation

Dubai: The drop in oil prices could ease the cost of commodities in the UAE, but it might take a lot more time to bring the inflation back to comfortable levels, experts said on Wednesday.

According to Piyush Mathur, regional managing director at market watcher The Nielsen Company, a fall in oil costs normally means a price decline in goods sold at the supermarkets. "We should see food and commodity prices coming down, providing some relief to the UAE consumers," Mathur told Gulf News.

Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer of Jacky's Electronics, said the price of electronic products should drop as cheaper oil can translate to lower shipping costs. Panjabi noted that the cost of importing goods like refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and chest freezers from had skyrocketed when oil prices soared fast and the US dollar fell.

"Lower oil prices should benefit retailers and consumers in the UAE going forward. With much of what we sell being imported by various brand distributors from factories located all around the world, we had been seeing prices on the rise as the cost of landing the products here was on the way up," Panjabi told Gulf News. "We had also been seeing prices rising due to the US dollar's weakening. But with the dollar gaining, we should see imports become slightly cheaper and this should help retailers become more competitive," Panjabi added.

Kamal Vachani, director of Al Maya Group, said falling oil prices will not immediately bring down the cost of goods at UAE supermarkets. He said consumers may have to wait for about three months before the falling prices can be felt at the retail level.