Dubai's inflation rate slowed to 5.4 percent in the first five months of 2009, compared to 8.7 percent a year earlier, the head of Dubai Statistics Center (DCS) was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Rental prices for residential units had risen 3.2 percent in January to May this year, compared to a 5.4 percent increase in the same period in 2008, Arif Obaid al-Muhairi was quoted as saying in daily newspaper al-Khaleej.
Rents in Dubai, one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates federation, at least doubled during a building boom that came to an end late last year after the financial crisis and oil prices dropped off peaks of almost $150 a barrel last July.
Last month, the UAE's central bank governor said a rapid price fall in the country, which saw inflation drop to 1.9 percent in April, would not lead to deflation.