Families feel pinch as food prices continue to rise

FEELING PINCH: Higher food prices helped push annual inflation up to around 5.24% in Bahrain in March. (Getty Images)

Consumer prices in Bahrain advanced 0.4% in the month to the end of March, led by higher food costs, government data showed on Tuesday. That compares with a 0.2% gain in February.

The consumer price index rose to 105.24 points on March 31, compared with 104.82 points at the end of February, the Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) said in a statement, without giving comparative data for March last year.

The food, beverage and tobacco index touched 113.08 points, up 1.4% from the month earlier, the data showed. Housing costs were unchanged.

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

Rising global food prices, a falling dollar and soaring rents have driven price rises across the region, where economies are booming on a near-six increase in oil prices since 2002.

Inflation in Saudi Arabia hit a 27-year peak of 8.7% in February.

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, a CIO official said.

That would indicate annual inflation in March of 5.24%, compared with 4.82% in February, according to Reuters calculations. (Reuters)

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