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Consumer prices in Abu Dhabi up 1.2% in August

Abu Dhabi - The consumer price index uses 2007 as base year to compare today's prices.

Consumer prices in Abu Dhabi surged 1.2 per cent in August in a month-on-month comparison, says the Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi or SCAD, as transport and food prices played a major contributing factor.
"The most significant groups, which experienced increases in prices during August compared, were 'Transport' with 12 per cent and 'Food and beverages' with 2.1 per cent," says the statistics gathering agency.
The consumer price index uses 2007 as base year to compare today's prices.
On July 28, the ministry of energy announced the de-regulation of oil prices by withdrawing fuel subsidies, which allowed gasoline prices to go up 24 per cent from August 1, while diesel price was slashed by 14 per cent.
Retail petrol prices at the pump was fixed at Dh2.05 per litre instead of the previous Dh2.90, or a 29 per cent drop.
Gasoline-95 Octane was adjusted upwards by 24 per cent to Dh2.14 per liter from present level of Dh1.72.
In her analysis on the rise in gasoline prices, Dr Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, had hinted at the time that the hike in gasoline price would add 1-1.3 percentage points to the headline inflation.
The same view was held by a leading retailer Wissal Ahmed Khan, who operates 26 outlets of Alam Supermarkets in Abu Dhabi. He expected inflation to rise 1.5 per centage points.
The rise in consumer prices for August 2015 pushed up consumer prices for the UAE nationals by 1.5 per cent, and for non-citizen households by one per cent, while share households increased by 0.9 per cent, said the SCAD.
Consumer prices for households of the bottom welfare quintile increased by 1.2 per cent during August compared with July, while consumer prices grew by 1.5 per cent for the middle household welfare quintiles, and for the top household welfare quintiles by 0.9 per cent, the statistics gathering agency said.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com