Oman's producer price-based inflation rises in third quarter

Muscat: The Sultanate's producer price index (PPI)-based inflation rose by 26.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, over the same period of last year, mainly driven by a surge in oil and gas prices, according to the latest statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Prices of oil and gas products increased by 32.2 per cent, while the prices of non-oil products rose by 5.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, over the same period of the previous year. In the oil and gas group, refined oil products shot up by 38.9 per cent, while the prices of crude oil and natural gas soared by 31.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, over the same period of the previous year. Among the non-oil group, the prices of the manufacturing group rose by 7.1 per cent in the third quarter, while there was a 1.2 per cent fall in the prices of mining, electricity and the water group index. Among the different sub-groups in the manufacturing group, the prices of most of the product groups rose at varying degrees. Metal products, machinery and equipment recorded an increase of 14.4 per cent and transportable goods by 6.1 per cent, while producer prices of the food, beverages and textile products group increased by 1.1 per cent. Among food, beverages and textile products, the price of beverages rose by 10.6 per cent and bakery and other food products by 3.8 per cent. There was a decline in the prices of fish, fruits, vegetables and oils by 6.4 per cent; clothing, textiles and footwear by 1.3 per cent; and dairy products by 0.1 per cent, the NCSI report added. Among the transportable goods group, the producer price index of products of gases, acids and polypropylene rose by 16.9 per cent; rubber and plastic products by 4.1 per cent; and wood and paper products by 1.9 per cent. In contrast, there was a decline in the prices of glass, cement and marble products by 2.1 per cent; furniture products, jewellery and iron products by 1.4 per cent; and pharmaceutical products by 1.3 per cent, according to the NCSI report. The price index of metal products, machinery and equipment also rose by 14.4 per cent, mainly driven by a growth in the prices of distribution and delivery of electricity apparatus, recording tapes and CDs by 22.2 per cent. Prices of raw metals and their finished products soared by as much as 14.1 per cent, while prices of fabricated steel and aluminium products rose by 2.2 per cent.