'Inflation in Oman rose in December 2018'

Muscat: The consumer price index (CPI) indicated that the inflation rate in the Sultanate increased by 0.75 per cent in December 2018 compared to the corresponding month in 2017, according to the latest statistics published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). It also pointed out that the inflation rate decreased by 0.29 per cent compared to November 2018.
The increase in the price index in December 2018 compared to December 2017 is attributed to the increase in key groups, such as the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group by 0.59 per cent; transport group by 3.43 per cent; hotels and restaurants group by 0.48 per cent; commodities and miscellaneous services group by 1.42 per cent; education group by 2.02 per cent; culture and entertainment group by 0.09 per cent.
The annual inflation rate for 2018 registered an increase by 0.88 per cent compared to the annual inflation rate in 2017.
While the foodstuff and non-alcoholic drinks group decreased by 0.48 per cent, the garments and shoes group decreased by 0.56 per cent; communications group decreased by 0.32 per cent; furniture, accessories, home appliances, domestic maintenance group fell by 0.73 per cent; health group dropped by 3.53 per cent; and tobacco group declined by 0.15 per cent.
At the governorate level, Dhofar witnessed the highest increase in the inflation rate by 1.52 per cent, followed by North Al Batinah by 1.5 per cent, A'Dakhiliyah by 0.95 per cent, Muscat by 0.41 per cent, North A'Sharqiyah and South A'Sharqiyah by 0.31 per cent. The inflation rate declined by 0.07 per cent in A'Dhahirah and 0.38 per cent in Al Buraimi.
Compared to November 2018, the consumer price index decreased by 0.29 per cent. The transport group fell by 1.33 per cent; clothes and shoes group by 0.59 per cent; hotels, restaurants, culture and recreation group by 0.02 per cent; communications by 0.04 per cent; furniture, home appliances and domestic maintenance by 0.05 per cent.
On the other hand, the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels group increased by 0.03 per cent; foodstuffs and non-alcoholic group by 0.07 per cent; commodities and miscellaneous services group by 0.13 per cent. The inflation rate for the education, health and other groups stabilised.