Oman secures rice, flour supply as food prices rise

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Oman is securing 200,000 tonnes of rice, enough to feed the population for two years, in an effort to help consumers cope with soaring food commodity prices, the commerce and industry minister said on Saturday.

Makboul bin Ali bin Sultan said in comments carried by the official Oman News Agency that the sultanate had also secured 50,000 tonnes of flour to meet local consumption.

The World Food Programme has described soaring food prices as a "silent tsunami" that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people into poverty.

Protests, strikes and riots have erupted in developing countries around the world after dramatic rises in the prices of wheat, rice, corn, oils and other essential foods.

Inflation is taking the shine off the rapid economic growth experienced by Gulf oil exporters, including Oman, flush with windfall oil revenues.

Annual inflation in Oman, one six Gulf oil producers, surged above 10 percent this year for the first time in 18 years as food prices soared.

Food, beverage and tobacco costs -- which account for almost a third of the consumer price index -- surged 17 percent in January and 19.6 percent in February, the Omani Ministry of National Economy said last month.

Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has ordered an increase of up to 43 percent in state salaries, and 5 to 35 percent in state pensions to help offset inflation.

On top food inflation, rents were up 14.1 percent in February from a year earlier and building costs are rising.