File picture of people shopping in a mall in Qatar used for representation.
Doha: Prices of various goods and services have declined in August compared to previous month, showing Qatar has successfully overcome illegal blockade imposed by the siege countries. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the month of August, released yesterday, revealed that prices have softened in August.
CPI for August has declined to 108.3 points, showing a decrease of 0.4 percent, when compared to CPI of July 2017, and to CPI of August 2016, showed the data released by The Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics. The fall in August inflation was largely due to the decline in the prices of goods and services in four main groups, where respective indices in this month decreased, namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 2.2 percent, “Food and Beverages” by 0.6 percent, “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 0.4 percent. “Transport” by 0.3 percent.
Some market analysts had anticipated that the sudden interruption in the supply of goods, especially the food and other essential items entering the local market might witness sharp jump in prices as most of them were being imported from new destinations from far off countries through air and sea routes.
However, a well-calibrated move by the government and its support to the private companies helped overcome the situation and prices of almost all items remained stable.
The group of items where an increase in prices noticed were: “Clothing and Footwear” by 1.6 percent and “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 0.7 percent. The prices of goods in other groups: “Tobacco”, “Furniture and Household Equipment” “Health”, “Communication”, “Education” “Restaurants and Hotels have remained flat at the last month’s (July) price level.
The year-on-year decline in the CPI of August 2017 compared to the CPI of the corresponding months last year, was primarily due to the decreasing prices seen in the seven groups, namely: “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” by 4.0 percent, “Recreation and Culture” by 3.8 percent, “Clothing and Footwear” by 3.1 percent, “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.6 percent, “Restaurants and Hotels” by 0.7 percent, “Communication” by 1.1 percent, “Furniture and Household Equipment” by 0.7 percent.
Also, there has been an increase in price levels in four groups, namely: “Transport” by 6.3 percent”, following by “Education” by 3.0 percent, “Food and Beverages” and “Health” by 2.8 percent each, and No changes recorded in “Tobacco” group. The CPI of August excluding “Housing, Water, Electricity and other Fuel” group stands at 107.6 showing a decrease of 0.4 percent when compared to the index of July, and an increase of 0.7 percent when compared to the CPI of August 2016.
