​The Sultanate's consumer inflation in December 2016 stood at 1.13% compared with prices in the same month of 2015, according to the latest data bulletin issued by the (NCSI). A price escalation of 9.42% in the transport set, along with a 0.58% rise in prices of housing, water, electricity & fuels set contributed significantly to the inflation.

The other sets in the CPI basket of goods and services that logged a price rise included restaurants & hotels at 0.48%, education at 2.85%, and furnishings, household equipment & maintenance at 0.62%. The health segment too registered an upward price movement at 0.66% in the month of December compared with last year. Interestingly, the tobacco products witnessed a whopping 21.88% inflation.

However, a nearly 3.0% fall in prices in the foods & non-alcoholic beverages set reined in the inflationary pressure to an extent. Also easing of prices in the clothing & footwear at 0.42%, along with a 3% price drop in the communication set and a 0.45% fall in recreation and culture set helped tame the inflationary pressure in December 2016.Other products and services witnessed a 0.20% rise in prices.

In the foods segment, vegetable prices went down by 14.52%, while prices of fruits dropped 5.37%. Further, the prices of bread & cereals fell 1.12%, while fish & seafood declined by 3.29%. Milk, cheese & eggs too turned cheaper by 2.25%. The oils & fats subset saw prices cool off by a marginal 0.15% in the month. In contrast, meat products witnessed an inflationary pressure of 0.21%, along with a 0.42% price surge in the sugar, jam, honey & confectionary subset. Other food products logged a price fall of 0.32%.

Non-alcoholic beverages prices shot up by 0.77% in December as against prices in the same month of 2015. Looking at the past year as a whole, Oman's average consumer inflation stood at 1.12% compared with prices of products and services for the year 2015.

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