World important news by Pansy

* Stats office may revise 2010 GDP data next monthABU DHABI, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates’ economy is expected to grow by 4.2 percent in real terms this year, much faster than in 2010, helped by robust oil prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, citing preliminary data.Asked about key drivers of economic growth this year, Sufyan Daghra, economic statistics expert at the National Bureau of Statistics, said: “The increase in petroleum prices…and the impact of diversification and other economic activities.”He told a news conference, “There was recovery that we can feel in the economic sector.”Real gross domestic product of the world’s No. 4 oil exporter expanded by 1.4 percent in 2010, after a 1.6 percent contraction in the previous year due to the global financial crisis, which slashed oil output and burst a local property bubble.In 2011, the property sector has remained weak because of an inflow of new developments to the market, and bank lending has stayed slow following the announcement of a $25 billion debt restructuring at Dubai’s flagship conglomerate Dubai World in 2010.But the UAE has benefited from strong trade flows, thanks to fast growth in Asia, and a rise in tourism as the country avoided a wave of regional social unrest in neighbouring Bahrain, Oman and Yemen. The government is promoting non-oil industries such as tourism, financial services and even aerospace.The statistics office’s projection is more optimistic than a Reuters poll of analysts in September, which forecast the UAE would expand by 3.8 percent this year.Daghra also said the statistics office might revise the UAE’s 2010 GDP data next month following a recent revision by Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates in the UAE federation, which accounts for 90 percent of UAE oil output.

Overall import prices increased 0.3 percent, the Labor Department said, after falling 0.2 percent in August.Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to drop 0.3 percent last month. Import prices were up 13.4 percent in the 12 months through September.Stripping out fuel and food costs, import prices rose 0.3 percent after increasing by the same margin in August.Although consumer prices have risen in recent months, Federal Reserve officials see inflation moderating as oil and commodity prices retreat from the lofty levels scaled early this year.Data on Tuesday is expected to show that wholesale prices increased 0.2 percent in September, according to a Reuters survey, after a flat reading in August. But consumer prices are seen rising 0.2 percent, slowing from August’s 0.4 percent gain.Last month, a 0.3 percent rise in imported petroleum prices helped to push up import prices. The cost of imported petroleum dropped 1.6 percent in August.Imported food prices rebounded 0.5 percent in September after declining 0.7 percent the prior month. The report also showed broader increases in prices of other imported goods, though the cost of imported motor vehicles and parts rose only 0.1 percent after a similar gain in August.The modest rise in motor vehicle prices likely reflects an improvement in the supply of motor vehicles from Japan after severe disruptions following the March earthquake.The Labor Department report also showed export prices rose 0.4 percent last month after advancing 0.5 percent the prior month. Analysts had expected export prices to gain 0.2 percent.