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Qatar: Inflation down 0.5%

October 16, 2017 at 9:08 am

Customers are seen shopping at Al Meera market in Doha, Qatar on 9 June 2017 [Mohamed Farag/Anadolu Agency]

Qatar’s consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.5 per cent in September compared to the same period in 2016, official data showed yesterday.

Data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics showed the inflation rate reached 108.4 points last month, compared with 108.9 points in September 2016.

According to the data, the drop is the result of the decline in the prices of six areas namely: housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 4.7 per cent, entertainment and culture by 4.5 per cent, telecommunication by 1.1 per cent, restaurants and hotels one per cent, other goods and services by 0.8 per cent, furniture and household appliances 0.6 per cent and clothing and footwear by 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the price of transportation increased by 6.1 per cent, food and beverages by 3.6 per cent, health care by 2.7 per cent, education was up by 0.4 per cent while tobacco prices remained unchanged.

Read: Qatar emir starts Asia tour amid Gulf rift

On a monthly basis, inflation in Qatar increased by 0.1 per cent from August.

The Gulf region was hit by a political crisis on 5 June when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed economic sanctions on it which included closing their airspace to Qatari aviation as well as maritime and air borders.

This has led to increasing costs for Doha, which had to rearrange new shipping routes for many imports through Oman and Kuwait.