Kuwait’s annual inflation eased to a three-year low of 2.3 percent year-on-year in September 2009, helped by a fall in transport prices, data showed on Wednesday. The global downturn slashed growth rates across the Gulf Arab oil producing region, reducing consumer price growth from 2008 record peaks, with some countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, booking deflation last year.
Inflation in Kuwait, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, stood at 3.4 percent year-on-year in August 2009, after peaking at 11.6 percent a year ago.
On the month, consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent in September, after a 0.1 percent decline in the previous month. The office delayed inflation data releases last year.
House prices, which account for 27 percent of the goods basket that measures inflation, held steady month-on-month in September for the sixth month.
Food prices rose 2.6 percent month-on-month following a 1.0 percent fall in August, while transport prices decreased 0.9 percent, falling for the third month in a row.
The central bank governor said last month inflation in Gulf Arab countries has dropped substantially but has not disappeared completely.
A Reuters poll in January showed analysts forecasting Kuwait’s inflation at 4.3 percent for the full year of 2009, down from a peak of 10.6 percent in 2008. (Reuters)
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