The inflation rate in consumer prices in the UAE during the first five months of 2017 stood at 2.2 percent, according to the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre (SCAD).
The relative change rate in consumer prices during May hit 2 percent as compared with the same month in 2016, SCAD’s latest report said.
It attributed the increase to a 3.5 percent rise in the price of housing, water, electricity, gas and other types of fuels, which accounted for 55.3 percent of the total price hike during the first five months of the year.
The hike in transport prices claimed 33.1 percent of the total rise during the first five month of 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016, SCAD said in a statement carried on state news agency WAM.
Meanwhile, prices in the recreation and culture category dropped by 9 percent during the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, contributing 19.3 percent to the reduced inflation rise.
Analysts including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank forecast last year that the UAE’s annual average inflation rate would accelerate to 2.8 percent in 2017, up from 1/7 percent in 2016.
UAE consumer inflation accelerated to 2.3 percent in January, up from 1.24 percent in December, according to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority.
Economists have forecast a further rise in consumer price inflation in 2018 to 4.8 per cent, with the planned introduction of 5 percent value added tax (VAT).
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