In October, annual inflation rate in Dubai increased to a three-month high of 0.3 percent. Food prices climbed, but analysts comment that inflationary pressure remains modest.
Abu Dhabi reported that annual inflation rate slowed to a 22-month low of 0.9 percent in October, after 1.0 percent in September.
Consumer price growth in Dubai, which accounts for 28 percent of the UAE economy, has held below 1 percent for most of the year as bank lending remains slow and the property sector weak in the wake of the emirate’s 2009 debt crisis. Inflation was zero in September.
On a month-on-month basis, price growth eased to 0.3 percent in October after a 0.4 percent increase in September, the data from the Dubai Statistics Center showed.
In Dubai, food costs increased 0.5 percent month-on-month in October after a 1.1 percent jump in the previous month.
Housing prices, the biggest component in the Dubai basket, were unchanged month-on-month after a slight increase of 0.1 percent in September. Transport costs dipped 0.1 percent in October, the data showed.
UAE central bank governor Sultan Nasser Al-Suweidi said in June that inflation this year was likely to be lower than 3 percent as the real estate sector remained under pressure.
Analysts polled by Reuters in September predicted average inflation in the UAE of 2.0 percent in 2011 and 3.0 percent in 2012, up from 0.9 percent last year.
