The Sultanate's year-on-year consumer inflation for May 2017 touched 1.96%, driven by a rise of 7.46% in the transport set, 1.57% in housing, water electricity, gas and other fuels set and 23.93% in tobacco sets, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics & Information (NCSI).
Prices of foods and non-alcoholic beverages went down 0.03% in May this year compared with the prices during the same period in 2016. The clothing and footwear set too fell 0.06% in May 2017 compared to the same month last year, while furnishing household equipment and routine household maintenance rose 2.46% compared to last year.
The health set rose slightly by 0.40% while communication fell 2.90 per cent vis-a-vis last year's prices, while recreation and culture set and restaurant and hotels registered 0.15% and 0.34% rise respectively. In the food and beverages set, fish and seafood turned costlier by 1.54%, the prices of bread and cereals fell 0.56%, of milk, cheese and eggs declined by 1.24%. The price of meat rose 0.36% and that of vegetables by 2.86%. The price of oils and fats fell 0.06% and fruits by 2.77% in May compared to the same period in 2016. There was also a rise in miscellaneous goods and services at 1.38%.
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