Bahrain inflation edges up on rising food costs

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EDGING UP: Inflation in Bahrain rose 0.2% to around 4.82% in February, official figures showed. (Getty Images)

Inflation in Bahrain, the smallest Gulf Arab economy, rose 0.2% in February from the previous month as food prices accelerated, the government's Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) said on Monday.

Bahrain's consumer price index was 104.82 points on February 29 compared with 104.64 points at the end of January, the CIO said in a statement, without giving a comparative index figure for February 2007.

Food, beverage and tobacco costs climbed 0.46% in February from the month earlier while housing costs were steady, the data showed.

Like most of its neighbours in the world's top oil-exporting region, Bahrain pegs its currency to the dollar, forcing it to track US interest rate cuts and constraining its fight against inflation.

The Gulf state plans to give low-income families a 50-dinar monthly allowance as part of a programme to help citizens cope with rising prices, newspapers reported on Monday.

The CIO said in January it had revised the consumer price index and was using 2006 as its base year.

Calculations of annual inflation for each month would be done at a base of 100 points until it works out new weights to calculate prices for previous years, an official said.

That would indicate annual inflation in February of 4.82% compared with 4.64% in January. (Reuters)

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