Muscat – Statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) attributed this increase to a 16.2 percent decline in the prices of the group of non-food raw materials excluding fuel, machinery and transportation equipment group, and a 6.4 percent decline in the prices of the mineral fuels and related materials group.

The prices of miscellaneous manufactured goods rose sharply by 22.9 percent. Beverages and tobacco, as well as vegetable and animal oils, fats, waxes, and manufactured goods, all saw an 8.9 percent increase. Manufactured goods also experienced a 6.6 percent rise. Additionally, the food and live animals group recorded a 2.6 percent increase, while the chemicals and related materials group saw prices go up by 1.6 percent.

However, when compared to the same period in the previous year, the general import price index showed a decrease of 2.5 percent. This year-on-year decline was mainly due to a significant drop in the prices of mineral fuels and related materials, which fell by 25.2 percent, followed by a 15.8 percent decrease in machinery and transportation equipment.

In contrast, prices of the miscellaneous manufactured goods group rose by 14.4 percent, followed by the vegetable and animal oils, fats, waxes group by 11.9 percent, and the food and live animals group by 9.1 percent.

The price index for the chemicals and related materials group also rose by 8 percent, the manufactured goods group by 6.4 percent, and the beverages and tobacco group by 6.2 percent, while the raw materials group excluding fuel rose slightly by 0.2 percent.