Muscat: Data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that the Producer Price Index (PPI) in the Sultanate of Oman registered a rise of 40.7 per cent during the second quarter of this year (2022), compared to the corresponding period in 2021.
Oil and gas products took the lead in the upward trend, constituting 48.7 per cent, while non-oil products registered 7.8 per cent. PPI data from a quarterly survey conducted by the NCSI point to the fact that the hike in prices of oil and gas products results from a 50.3 per cent rise in prices of refined oil products and a 48.4 per cent rise in crude oil and natural gas.
The growth in prices of non-oil products is attributed to a 9.4 per cent rise in prices of the converting industries group and a 1.8 per cent rise in the mining, electricity and water group. In the converting industries group, the prices of most sub-groups grew in varying proportions: foodstuff prices increased by 15.2 per cent, mineral products, machinery and equipment by 11.6 per cent and other movables by 5.7 per cent.
A breakup of figures shows that the prices of fish, fruits, vegetables and oils grew by 34.8 per cent, textiles by 11.7 per cent, beverages by 8.6 per cent, dairy products by 8.5 per cent, bakery and other food products by 3.9 per cent and footwear items by 2.7 per cent. In the minerals, machinery and equipment Group, the prices of products made from iron, steel or aluminium grew by 35.7 per cent, vacant compressed cylinder products by 15.4 per cent, crude, iron, steel and aluminium up by 11.4 per cent and water heater products up by 10.4 per cent, while the prices of power transformers, cables and electrical appliances registered an increase of 6.1 per cent.
As for the movables Group, the prices of paints and pharmaceutical items grew by 13 per cent, chemical products by 11.6 per cent, rubber and plastics by 6 per cent, re-melted iron waste by 4.9 per cent and paper products by 1.6 per cent, while the prices of glass products, cement and marble went down by 6.1 per cent. — ONA
