- DUBAI: The fall in living costs in Qatar eased to 4.6 percent year-on-year in February after rents rose for the first time since May 2009, the country's statistics authority said on Monday.
Qatar's consumer price index fell 5.7 percent in January, after peaking at a 17.1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2008. Prices in the world's largest natural gas exporter are expected to rise this year helped by food prices, but inflation should stay at low single-digit levels.
The rents and energy component, which accounts for 32 percent of the basket, rose 0.2 percent in February from the previous month, after a 1.4 percent fall in January, the data showed.
Transport prices, the second largest component, declined 0.6 percent month-on-month, after a 0.3 percent increase in January, while food prices rose 0.5 percent after being flat for two months in a row.