Rents Seen Rising After Several Years

Annual inflation in the country was 2.6 percent, Qatar’s national office for statistics said yesterday citing consumer price index (CPI) figures for November 2012.

A disturbing trend the figures show is that rents have risen for the first time in the past few years.

The CPI for rents, fuel and energy, clubbed under one head, showed an increase of 1.9 percent in a year (November 2011 to November 2012). The jump was largely witnessed in a month, from October to November 2012.

This head (rent, fuel and energy) constitute the largest weight in the CPI basket (32 percent) so any upward trend in its prices is like to have more impact on household consumption than any other head.

Food became 3.1 percent dearer in a year until November but its prices showed a marginal decline in a month between October and November 2012. Entertainment costs rose the highest at 5.8 percent since November 2011, Qatar Statistics Authority figures reflect.

The Peninsula