More clarity over the cost of Abu Dhabi building projects

Officials plan to start releasing from the end of the year a monthly gauge of the cost of different building projects in Abu Dhabi.

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Officials plan to start releasing from the end of the year a monthly gauge of the cost of different building projects in Abu Dhabi.

The construction costs index will provide detailed statistics on the cost of different building projects such as a tower block, villa, road or bridge.

"It will help construction people understand how much it costs to build different projects in Abu Dhabi for a villa, tower, roads or bridges," said Hanan Al Marzouqi, the manager of prices and income statistics at Statistics Center-Abu Dhabi (Scad).

Currently, Scad monitors monthly changes in the cost of 15 different building materials including cement, glass, power cables and sanitaryware. The index also takes account of labour costs.

But Ms Al Marzouqi said the Government, developers and investors were asking for more detailed data on the cost of a building project. The new index will also take account of the cost of land and transport, data not tracked currently.

Abu Dhabi plans to spend US$90 billion on development projects in the next five years, the Executive Council announced in January. The plan involves 12,500 houses as well as schools, roads and other infrastructure.

The new index is one of several Scad is rolling out as it broadens its monitoring of price changes.

Yesterday, it announced for the first time a breakdown of inflation data across different parts of the emirate. Inflation in the city of Abu Dhabi reached 0.8 per cent in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year. Inflation in Al Gharbia and Al Ain was 0.9 per cent over the same period.

Consumer prices in Abu Dhabi city rose by 0.8 per cent last month from June last year, and 0.5 per cent last month from May.

Inflation in Al Ain accelerated by 1 per cent last month from the year earlier, and 0.5 per cent on a monthly basis.

On an annual basis, consumer prices in Al Gharbia grew by 0.9 per cent last month, and 0.4 per cent from the previous month.

Scad plans to release monthly data showing how consumer prices affected household income from the end of the year, said Ms Al Marzouqi.