Half of Emirati households in Abu Dhabi expect to spend more this year

About 58 per cent of Emirati households had debt last year, mostly to finance car purchases. Silvia Razgova / The National

Almost half of Emirati households in Abu Dhabi expected their expenses to increase in the first quarter of this year.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added) said yesterday that 47 per cent of families surveyed in the emirate anticipated a rise in costs this year. Its data showed that prices remained flat last year compared to 2012.

However, data from the National Bureau of Statistics today showed UAE inflation edged up to 1.9 per cent last month, its highest level since October 2010, from 1.8 per cent in February.

Housing and utility costs, which account for more than 39 per cent of consumer expenses, rose 2.4 per cent from a year earlier in March.

“Inflation will rise this year as the housing market picks up amid a surge of new projects in Abu Dhabi, Shady Shaher, the senior economist for the Middle East and North Africa at Standard Chartered said last month.

"The housing component is the largest of the inflation basket and I expect housing to accelerate," he said. "But the overall outlook for the economy is very strong for Abu Dhabi, which is largely driven by government spending and should underpin the economy."

The data from the Department of Economic Development yesterday also showed that 58 per cent of households had debt last year - a slight dip on 2012 - mostly to finance car purchases.

A quarter had mortgages, the department said.

“A large segment” of households depend on secondary incomes including proceeds from the sale of crops and livestock, pensions and property rentals, it said.

Last year Emirati households spent an average of Dh3,686 on school fees and Dh4,377 on mobile phone bills.

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