By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: The Machinery & Equipment Price Index (MEPI) for the first six months of 2016 (first half), which reached 101.4 points, has declined marginally 0.78 percent compared to second half of 2015, as well as the first half of 2015, data released by the Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics show.
The MEPI index is the new indicator which added to the current products of indicators produced by the Ministry. This indicator is calculated semi-annual basis.
A comparative analysis (on half-yearly basis) of MEPI of the first half of this year shows that all of the main groups have decreased namely: “Special-purpose machines” group by 1.16 percent, which was attributed to the decline in prices of Underground Rock Cutters and Tunneling Machinery,
“Office, Accounting and Computing Machinery” group decreased by 0.88 percent, “Transport Equipment” group by 0.77 percent , due to a price drop in Motor vehicles and trailer vehicles. Slight decline in “Machinery and Electrical Appliances” group by 0.19 percent .
A comparison of the Machinery & Equipment Price Index on year-on-year basis, shows that the index decreased by 0.78 percent affected by price decrease in several other groups namely: “Special-Purpose Machines” and “Transport Equipment” by 0.97 percent each, “Office, Accounting and Computing machinery” declined by 0.88 percent . On the other hand, “Machinery and Electrical Appliances” also declined by 0.19 percent .
Within the “special-purpose machines” group (which witnessed 0.97 percent decline in prices in the first half, 2016) the prices of ‘Moving, grading, leveling, scrapping, excavating, tamping’ equipment, including bulldozers, by 1.06 percent, both on half-yearly as well as year-on-year basis.
The Prices of ‘portable automatic data processing machines’, such as laptops and other machines’, which is under the “Office, Accounting and Computing Machinery” group has witnessed the highest decline of 1.67 percent, both on half-yearly as well as year-on-year basis.
While the prices of ‘motorcycles and other light transport’ vehicles and ‘Other transport equipment and parts’, have remained unchanged, both on half-yearly as well as year-on-year basis.
The Peninsula
