Higher school fees powered a modest increase in Dubai's consumer prices, data released yesterday by the Dubai Statistics Centre showed.
While overall prices rose by just 0.5 per cent in the year to the end of last month, education costs jumped by 12.2 per cent, the most of any category in the basket of goods and services the government body tracks in its monthly inflation index. Dubai's inflation in May was 0.48 per cent.
Parents have protested against recent tuition increases at the emirate's schools, saying they are out of sync with reductions made in salaries and benefits at Dubai companies because of the sagging global economy. A group of parents with children enrolled at the Dubai Modern High School, which is owned by the GEMS Education, rallied in January against a planned tuition increase of between 90 and 110 per cent. Dubai's Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), which regulates educational institutions, in March responded to distressed parents, saying it would freeze tuition costs at Dubai's schools this year. But a government official said in May that some schools would still be allowed to increase their fees.
"All of us must equally share the enormous responsibility to make sure that the children of Dubai do not have their education disrupted because of the economic downturn that has swept the world," Mohammed Darwish, the head of the regulations and compliance commission at the KHDA, said in a letter announcing the freeze of tuition fees.
But while education costs jumped, that rise was largely offset by declines in communications and housing costs, keeping Dubai's overall inflation rate low.
Communications costs fell 10.6 per cent as du, the smaller of the UAE's two telecommunications companies, offered cut-rate services and gained market share against Etisalat. Du, founded in 2007, added 266,000 mobile subscribers in the first quarter of the year. Etisalat lost 30,000 users in that period but staged a comeback in the second quarter, saying on Sunday it added about 90,000 subscribers.
While Etisalat has a near monopoly on internet and television services across the country, du said this month it had reached a deal with regulators to sell services on Etisalat's networks, setting the stage for further price declines as the companies compete. Du announced a promotion starting next month in which it is offering an internet, TV and landline package for Dh249 (US$67.84) a month; a similar package from Etisalat is priced at Dh399 a month.
The modest overall inflation numbers for Dubai follow the release on Sunday of mid-year statistics for Abu Dhabi. Higher education, housing and food costs pushed the emirate's rate to 3.4 per cent for the year to the end of last month.
Housing costs, which have the largest weighting of any category in the capital's price index, increased 6.1 per cent for the period.
The same category in Dubai declined by 1.65 per cent. Analysts say house prices and rents fell by as much as half in some areas of Dubai last year. First-half inflation numbers for all of the UAE are expected soon. Inflation for all of last year stood at 1.5 per cent, the lowest it has been since 2000.
afitch@thenational.ae
Company%20Profile
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Jawan
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Results
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: RB Kings Bay, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: AF Ensito, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: AF Sourouh, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Baaher, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Mootahady, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Dubai Canal, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Harrab, Bernardo Pinheiro, Majed Al Jahouri
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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