Oman’s inflation accelerates on rising cost of living

Unsplash.com/Thiébaud Faix

• Seafood 11% more expensive
• GDP falls 9.5%

Oman’s inflation accelerated to 1.27 percent in September from 0.82 percent the previous month after a surge in the cost of living.

Prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector rose 3.41 percent last month as the cost of fish and seafood surged 11.26 percent, while cheese and eggs were 8.63 percent more expensive, fruits 4.55 percent higher and vegetables up 3.98 percent, the state-run Oman News Agency reported, quoting figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

Restaurants and hotels recorded a rise in prices of 2.27 percent, while the cost of housing, water, electricity and gas was up 1.29 percent.

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Al Dhahirah region recorded the highest inflation, with a rise of 1.6 percent, while the lowest inflation was seen in Al Dakhiliyah and Dhofar region, at one percent each.

Earlier this month, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Oman’s credit ratings in the light of a continued positive outlook for the oil sector and momentum in fiscal and economic reforms over 2023-2026.

The ratings agency said it expected the country’s GDP growth to average two percent over 2023-2026, after a year of slowdown caused by voluntary crude output cuts.

Oman’s GDP recorded a fall of 9.5 percent in the second quarter of 2023, largely as a result of a slowdown in oil-related activities.

The sultanate’s GDP was OMR10.1 billion ($26.24 billion) in the second quarter, down 9 percent from OMR11.1 billion for the same period last year, according to NCSI data.