Rents have been rising, putting pressure on the cost of living in the country, consumer price index (CPI) figures released yesterday reflect.
CPI data for June 2013 show rents surged 6.8 percent year-on-year in the month, slightly up from 6.5 percent in May.
Rising rents, therefore, kept the annual consumer inflation in the country above three percentage points to 3.4 in June.
Annual inflation was 3.5 percent in May, data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics suggest.
The marginal decline in inflation in June over May was due to a two percent reduction in the prices of miscellaneous goods and services.
This is the first CPI report by the ministry which was created recently, incorporating the national statistics agency and the national development planning office.
The Qatar Statistics Authority earlier issued the inflation data.
Rent is clubbed with fuel and energy in the CPI basket and they together have the largest weight (32.2 percent) in the CPI.
However, the highest annual increase was recorded in ‘entertainment, recreation and culture’ at 8.1 percent in June.
Source:The Peninsula
