The rise in annual inflation was primarily attributed to increase in the cost of Transport and education services.
Qatar’s inflation, based on consumer price index (CPI), increased 0.9 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in March 2017.
The rise in annual inflation was primarily attributed to increase in the cost of Transport and education services.
The CPI of March, 2017 reached to 108.6, showing an increase of 0.2 percent compared to the CPI of February, 2017, figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) revealed.
A month-on-month (M-o-M) analysis of CPI for March, 2017 compared with February, 2017 CPI, showed that there were four main groups, where respective indices in this month have increased, namely: “Transport” by 1.5 percent, “Recreation and Culture” by 0.7 percent, “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.4 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels “by 0.1 percent.
Decrease in prices in various degrees were also noticed in various groups, which included: “Food and Beverages” by 0.6 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 0.4 percent.
The prices of other groups: “Tobacco”, “Furniture and Household Equipment”, “Health”, “Communication”, “Education”, and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services”, remained flat at the last month’s price level.
The Y-o-Y price surge in the index was mainly due to the increase in prices in the five groups, namely: “Transport” by 8 percent”, “Education” by 3 percent, “Furniture and Household Equipment” and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.4 percent each, and “Clothing and Footwear” by 0.2 percent.
Also, there was a decrease in price levels in six groups, namely: “Restaurants and Hotels” by 2.8 percent, “Recreation and Culture” by 1.6 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 1 percent, “Food and Beverages” by 0.4 percent, “Health” by 0.2 percent, and “Communication” by 0.1 percent. For “Tobacco” group, there is no changes recorded.
The CPI of March, 2017 excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 107, showing an increase of 0.4 percent when compared to the index of February 2017, and a 1.5 percent when compared to the CPI of March 2016.
