Most economic and commercial activities in the UAE showed positive signs in May, recording their best performances since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighting the solid recovery of key sectors that support the national economy.
Registered activities in May 2021 suggested a growing demand, amidst signs suggesting that demand will further increase in the coming months.
Statistics from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC) reported increases in price indexes covering the seven sectors that constitute the UAE’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), led by the culture and entertainment sector, whose index rose to 106.36 points in May 2021, compared to 103.68 points in April.
The clothing and footwear sector recorded 115.02 points compared to 114.03 points during the same reporting period in April, while the food and beverage sector recorded 107.57 points in May compared to 106.82 points in April.
The other goods and services sector rose to 115.75 points from 114.77 points, including the restaurants and hotels sector rising to 115.85 points from 115.09 points, the health sector increased to 106.31 points from 106.17 points, and the transport services sector recorded 110.80 points, rising from 110.33 points.
The tobacco and education sectors also witnessed steady performances, while other indexes that comprise the CPI declined.
In light of these performances, the CPI in the UAE surged to 106.49 points in May 2021, a growth of 0.25 percent compared to April.
The Dubai property market is gaining momentum as the City of Wonders emerges from a COVID-19 induced slowdown bucking the global trends.
A total of 2,020 real estate and properties transactions were valued at Dhs4.5 billion in total during the week, according to Dubai Land Department (DLD).
The DLD weekly report said 119 plots were sold for Dhs 845.1 million, 1,321 apartments and villas were sold for Dhs 2.25 billion.
It noted that the top three transactions were a land in Marsa Dubai sold for Dhs125 million, followed by a land that was sold for Dhs57 million in Al Thanayah Fourth, and a land sold for Dhs 125 million in Marsa Dubai in third place.
Al Hebiah Third recorded the most transactions for this week by 20 sales transactions worth Dhs 61.81 million, followed by Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid with 14 sales transactions worth Dhs 139.68 million, and Jumeirah First with 14 sales transactions worth Dhs 106 million in third place.
The top three transfers for apartments and villas were an apartment was sold for Dhs 298 million in Marsa Dubai, an apartment was second in the list sold for Dhs 264 million in Al Merkadh, and thirdly it was an apartment sold for Dhs 233 million in Palm Jumeirah. The sum of the amount of mortgaged properties for the week was 1 billion, with the highest being a land in Al Goze Fourth, mortgaged for Dhs 139 million.
124 properties were granted between first-degree relatives worth Dhs 230 million.
Meanwhile, Dubai Economy reports 97.7% rate of compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.
The Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) Sector of Dubai Economy revealed that it recorded a compliance rate of 97.7 percent with COVID-19 precautionary guidelines among commercial establishments in H1 2021.
As part of the stringent implementation of globally-benchmarked preventive measures, 43 commercial establishments were closed, 1,678 were fined and 282 were issued warnings during the first six months of this year for non-compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. The violations, detected during inspections across open markets and commercial centres, were mostly related to wearing masks, physical distancing and permitted working hours in restaurants.
Overall, 87,223 commercial outlets undertaking activities involving direct contact with the public, including retail stores, restaurants and sports clubs, were inspected in the first half of this year. Overcrowding and non-compliance with physical distancing guidelines, particularly failure to regulate entry and movement of customers, resulted in fines and closure of establishments that were repeat offenders. Some establishments were issued warnings for failure to display physical distancing stickers, among others.
Dubai Economy said it will continue conducting inspections along with its various partners with a special focus on shopping malls and locations that might see overcrowding. It stressed that it is following a zero-tolerance policy on violations identified by its inspectors or reported by the public.
Dubai Economy directed traders to strictly adhere to precautionary measures and called on the public to report any violations or non-compliance either on the Dubai Consumer App available on Apple, Google and Huawei stores, the number 600545555, or via the consumerrights.ae website.
Meanwhile, : The World Bank upgraded the outlook for global growth this year, predicting that COVID-19 vaccinations and massive government stimulus in rich countries will power the fastest worldwide expansion in nearly five decades.
In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, out Tuesday, the 189-country anti-poverty agency forecasts that the world economy will grow 5.6 per cent this year, up from the 4.1 per cent it forecast in January.
