DOHA: Qatar’s inflation, based on consumer price index (CPI), rose 3.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in March 2016, while the index (which was estimated at 107.6) remained stable when compared on month-on-month (m-o-m) basis to the CPI of February 2016, figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) revealed.
The rise in annual inflation was primarily attributed to the increasing prices seen in the eight groups, namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 11.2 percent (witnessed the highest surge prices), followed by rising cost of “Education” which became 7.1 percent expensive than a year ago.
The prices of “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” surged by 5.4 percent, “Furniture and Household Equipment” and “Transport“ by 1.5 percent each, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.4 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 1.1 percent, and “Communication” by 0.2 percent.
Also, there has been a decrease in price levels in other groups, namely: “Food and Beverages” by 1.9 percent, “Health” by 0.3 percent. No change has been recorded in “Clothing and Footwear” and “Tobacco” groups.
When compared on m-o-m basis, the CPI for March, 2016 (compared with the CPI of February, 2016), showed that there were five main groups, where respective indices in this month have risen, namely: “Recreation and Culture” rose by 0.7 percent. “Clothing and Footwear”, “Restaurants and Hotels, and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” witnessed marginal increase of 0.4 percent each. “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” by 0.1 percent.
A decline in prices was also noticed in “Food and Beverages” by 0.7 percent, “Transport” by 0.6 percent. The other groups: “Tobacco”, “Furniture and Household Equipment”, “Health”, “Communication”, and “Education” have remained flat at the last month’s price level.
The CPI of March, 2016 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas” group stood at 105.4, recorded stability when compared to the index of February 2016, and an increase of 2.6 percent in comparison to the CPI of March, 2015.
