Qatar’s inflation rate rose last July, supported by the rise of prices of eight commodity groups, according to data issued by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.
The data indicated that the inflation rate rose by 3.13% last July on an annual basis. In June 2020, Qatar’s inflation rate reached 1.98%.
Qatar’s inflation rate
Inflation rate reached 98.73 points last month, compared to 95.73 points in July 2020.
The Ministry of Planning attributed the annual increase to the increase in the prices of entertainment with 19.69%, transportation with 10.11%, and education with 3.98%.
On the other hand, the prices of three groups decreased, housing, water and electricity by 5.24%, clothes and shoes by 1.77%, and health by 0.07%.
On a monthly basis, inflation rose by 0.9% in July, compared to a contraction of 0.2% in the previous June.
The inflation rate reflects the number that measures the cost of obtaining services and basic goods for consumers, price movements, and monitors the prices of prices in different markets.
Qatar budget
Qatar’s budget achieved a surplus during the second quarter of this year of 3.8 billion riyals ($1.049 billion), compared to a deficit of 1.12 billion riyals ($309 million) in the same period last year.
The Qatari Ministry of Finance stated that achieving the surplus came as a result of the revenue growth during the period by 10.7% on an annual basis, to 50.1 billion riyals ($13.84 billion), compared to 45.23 billion riyals ($12.49 billion).
Oil revenues also recorded a growth of 17.1% on an annual basis in the second quarter to 30.7 billion riyals ($8.48 billion).
Non-oil revenues increased by 1.8% to 19.3 billion riyals ($5.33 billion).
The new data showed that public expenditures decreased by 0.3% in the second quarter to 46.2 billion riyals ($12.76 billion), compared to 46.35 billion riyals ($12.8 billion) in the comparable period a year ago.
Qatar’s budget appears to have recovered from the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, and increased spending on major projects in preparation for the organization of the World Cup in 2022.
Qatar is the world’s largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas, and is facing tough competition for market share around the world with increased exports from major suppliers such as Russia, Australia and the United States.
