Annual inflation in Kuwait hit a 13-month low of 4.5 per cent in September, the country's state news agency Kuna cited data from the Central Statistics Office as showing on Sunday.

But consumer price growth accelerated to a nine-month high of 1.1 per cent month-on-month in September from 0.3 per cent in August, Kuna said.

Analysts have been predicting prices in the world's No.6 crude oil exporter will rise substantially this year on the back of higher global food and commodity costs, as well as the government's social spending.

Kuwait's economy is expected to grow by 4.7 per cent this year and at the same rate next year, helped by robust crude prices and increased government spending, after an estimated 2 per cent expansion in 2010.-Reuters