\n\tRIYADH: Inflation across the Gulf Cooperation Council remained subdued in June and July despite oil and gas price fluctuations linked to the ongoing US-Iran conflict, according to Kamco Invest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn its latest report, the Kuwait-based investment firm said the geopolitical situation in the Middle East is expected to sustain upward pressure on global inflation in the short term, while intermittent hostilities between the US and Iran are poised to lift oil prices, dampen global economic growth and drive up interest rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe report\u2019s assessment is broadly in line with projections from Oxford Economics in June, which forecast GCC inflation at 2.6 percent in 2026, easing to 2.1 percent in 2027 as temporary supply-side pressures dissipate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn the GCC, inflation remained subdued in June and July-2026, despite oil and gas price fluctuations prompted by the ongoing US-Iran conflict. In Saudi Arabia, annual inflation remained under the 2 percent central bank benchmark, increasing by 1.8 percent year on year in July,\u201d said Kamco Invest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWider regional angle\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tKuwait\u2019s Consumer Price Index increased 2.2 percent year on year in June, mainly supported by higher food and beverage prices. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOman\u2019s inflation rose 3.2 percent year on year in July, the highest reading among GCC countries that month. Food and non-alcoholic beverages and transportation were the main drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tDubai\u2019s consumer price index rose 5.3 percent year on year in July, down from a 5.7 percent peak in June. Kamco attributed the increase to instability stemming from the US-Iran war, which resulted in higher fuel and imported food prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBahrain\u2019s inflation rate increased 2.3 percent year on year in June, with the general CPI closing the month at 103.7 points. The index rose 0.9 percent month on month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tGlobal picture\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the US, inflation increased 3.4 percent year on year in July. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July after a 0.4 percent decline in June, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, increased 0.2 percent in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tKamco said the CPI reading matched market forecasts, while the Federal Reserve\u2019s preferred Personal Consumption Expenditures gauge came in slightly higher than anticipated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the eurozone, annual inflation reached 2.9 percent in July, up from 2.8 percent in June and in line with market expectations, according to Eurostat. Inflation in the wider EU rose to 3 percent from 2.9 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tKamco said the Middle East conflict and higher energy costs remained key drivers of European inflation in July, given the EU\u2019s status as a net energy importer.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: Inflation across the Gulf Cooperation Council remained subdued in June and July despite oil and gas price…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-754763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}