Oman market: how rising prices are hitting our pockets

As per the information revealed by the NCSI, the Sultanate’s year-on-year inflation in the month of August, this year, stood at 1.03 per cent.

The major cause of the prices rise was a 3.45 per cent rise in furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance, in the month, compared to the same period of 2016. Education has become 2.84 per cent costlier this year, too, the report points out.

Meanwhile, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels witnessed a 1.47 per cent rise while that of foods and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 1.09 per cent.

Prices of clothing and footwear rose slightly by 0.25 per cent rise compared to August 2016, while education witnessed a 2.84 per cent jump compared to the same period last year.

Health prices rose by 0.39 per cent, those of recreation and culture went up by 0.33 per cent in August this year compared to the same period of 2016. In response to inflation on food, however, several local hypermarkets have come up with initiatives to help customers. For instance, more products are being offered in bulk. The footfall in several new outlets such as Mars Hypermarket and Nesto Hypermarket are on the rise after setting up daily and weekly offers for customers.

This also coincides with the price drop on vegetables by 1.36 per cent, which has made several shoppers happier.

However, the biggest upset came in Oman when the prices of fruits shot up by 3.48 per cent, and fish by a whopping 6.49 per cent.

The price of fish has increased “substantially” says expat Abraham Matthew.

“I used to pay RO3.5 for a kilo of King Fish (King Mackerel) but now it is RO5. This is the case if you go to the local fish market in Seeb or Muttrah. If you shop in the local supermarkets here, the prices will be much higher.

“The price of prawns has shot up to RO4 per kilo, as opposed to the RO3 that I used to pay a few months back.

“This is definitely a problem for us who cannot exclude seafood from our diet,” Abraham adds.

Talking to us, Farah al Riyami, says: “Times are tough now and we don’t expect things to get better overnight. From my 15-years of experience in the field, I have never seen the market take such a blow.

“Oman has always been a country reliant on oil for its income. And as long as the price of oil hovers and remains below the US$60 (RO23.1) mark, things are going to be hard for us.

“Of course, we are slowly shifting our focus to tourism and other fields. But that will take, at the very least, half a decade for us to completely capitalise on that.

“So the answer to all our woes is clear: keep your money close to you and lock it up if you can.”