The United Arab Emirates is considering building a strategic reserve of essential foodstuffs as the government seeks ways to curb rampant inflation to a new target of 5 per cent in 2008.

Sultan al-Mansouri, the UAE’s newly appointed economy minister, said on Wednesday the federation would within six months complete a feasibility study on building six months’ worth of staple food reserves to enable the government to control food prices as it seeks to tame inflation.