MUSCAT: Oman posted a 15.3 per cent growth in producer price index in the first quarter of 2017, over the same period last year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
This growth was led by an increase in the oil and gas products at 18.9 per cent. The non-oil products also increased by 2.7 per cent.
The increase in oil and gas products is attributed to the increase in producers’ prices for crude oil and natural gas products by 16.8 per cent. The refined oil products increased by 32.4 per cent. The increase in the producers’ prices for non-oil products is attributed to the increase in the manufacturing industries group prices at 5 per cent.
On the contrary, the producer prices for mining, electricity and water registered a decline of 4 per cent in the first quarter 2017 compared to the same period last year due to 4.8 per cent fall in the producer price for electricity and water.
Dairy products, fish, fruit, vegetables and oil products, as well as beverages increased by 11.5 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. The price of bakeries products, ready to wear, textiles, and shoes dropped by 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. The prices of other food products remained stable.
While the prices of gas products, acids and polypropylene products increased by 19.6 per cent, the prices of dyes, pharmaceutical products, rubber and plastic declined by 6.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively.
The price of wood and paper products fell by 1.4 per cent, while there was a fall of 0.1 per cent in glass, cement and marble products.
