(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) UAE annual inflation rose to one per cent for the month of March, compared to 0.6 per cent in the same period last year, mainly because of a rise in food and beverage prices and education expenses during the month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, or NBS, released on Saturday.
Analysts polled by Reuters in January forecast average inflation in the UAE would accelerate to 1.8 per cent in 2013 from 0.7 per cent in 2012, which would be the lowest level since 1990.
Food prices, which make up around 14 per cent of the consumer basket, increased by 2.2 per cent in March. While in the consumer price index, or CPI, heavyweight housing and utility costs - which account for more than 39 per cent - dropped 0.1 per cent year-on-year in March.
In February, the CPI reached 117.24, up from 116.39 in the year before same period, according to the bureau.
The NBS predicted annual inflation rate at 1.33 per cent for 2013 while it is expected to be 1.60 next year in the country, according to its Web site.
Earlier this year, UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri predicted that the inflation rate in the country would be in the range of between one per cent and 1.5 per cent in 2013.
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