UAE’s 2011 inflation to reach 1.9%

17 May 2011

(MENAFN) A recent report by the Washington based Institute for International Finance (IIF) showed that in spite of huge public spending, in 2011, inflation rate in the UAE would reach 1.9 percent, the lowest inflation rate in the Arab world as a result of a continued downturn in the real estate sector, reported Emirates 24/7.

The report added that in 2010, the country’s inflation rate was 0.6 percent and the increase in 2011 would be due to higher global commodity prices and a surge in public expenditure, adding that this year, most of other Gulf oil producers as well as other Arab countries would likely encounter an increase in inflation rates as a result of the rise of commodity prices that include oil imports.

The report also showed that in Saudi Arabia, the world’s dominant oil power, inflation would go up from 5.4 percent to 5.7 percent, whereas in Kuwait it would swell from 4 percent to 6.2 percent. It would rise from 1.9 to 2.4 percent in Bahrain and from 3.3 to around 3.6 percent in Oman. In Qatar, the fastest growing Arab economy, inflation would reach 3 percent after the world’s largest gas exporter recorded a deflation of about 2.4 percent last year.

It is worth noting that for the Gulf region countries, the combined inflation rate is expected to increase to 4.4 percent this year from 2.9 percent in 2010, whereas the combined Arab inflation rate will grow from about 3.4 percent in 2010 to around 5.7 percent in 2011.