(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's inflation rate touched 0.5 per cent in November of 2013, inching up from the October figure of 0.3 per cent, according to a report issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
In November 2012, the inflation rate stood at 2.7 per cent.
Food prices posted a rise of 2.9 per cent in November 2013, compared to the previous month. Over the same period, educational service costs increased 9.9 per cent, while housing rental, electricity, water and fuel prices rose 1.2 per cent.
The transport and communications segment rose by 0.5 per cent, and clothing and textiles, and footwear prices rose by 1.3 per cent. Furniture prices and household items rose by 0.8 per cent and medical services by 1.8 per cent.
Prices of a range of personal goods and other services dropped by 13.2 per cent and of a range of culture and leisure services by 0.6 per cent during the same period.
Among the governorates, the general index of the annual consumer price rose 2.2 per cent in Dhofar, 1.3 per cent in Dakhiliyah and 1.1 per cent in North Batinah. The index gained 0.9 per cent in both North and South Sharqiyah. Muscat governorate recorded an increase of about 0.1 per cent, while Buraimi posted a 0.9 per cent drop.
Oman's November 2013 inflation rate was the lowest within the GCC. Bahrain posted the highest rate of inflation at 3.6 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia at 3.1 per cent, Qatar with 2.8 per cent, Kuwait 2.6 per cent, and UAE 1.4 per cent when compared with the same month of the previous year.
The sultanate's inflation rate compares favourably with that of its most important trading partners, with China at three per cent, the UK at 2.1 per cent, and the US at 1.2 per cent.
The NCSI report also revealed that Oman enjoys the lowest average level of inflation when compared with its major trade partners.
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