Falling rents in UAE slows rise in inflation

Inflation in the UAE slowed to 1.3 per cent in July from 1.7 per cent in the previous month, as housing and fuel prices saw the biggest monthly drop in more than a year.

Housing, fuel, electricity and water prices fell 2.43 per cent year on year, and by 1.6 per cent from a month earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

That's the biggest monthly decline since December 2009, when prices dropped by 1.2 per cent, Bloomberg data shows. Consumer prices fell 0.16 per cent from June.

"The rising supply of housing continues to pressure rents," said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the UAE's second-biggest bank. "This downward pressure on rents will continue to have a moderating impact on overall inflation in the UAE."

Bloomberg