Qatar June consumer prices fall 0.8 pct m/m

Qatar's consumer prices fell 0.8 per cent month-on-month in June, led by falls in rents and housing costs, a Qatar daily said on Thursday.

"Most of the falls were seen in the housing rents which have hit their highest levels last year," al-Watan daily said citing Qatar News Agency.

House rent, water charges and house maintenance were down 4.4 per cent in June compared to January, the paper said.

Inflationary pressure in the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas has eased this year after hitting peaks of almost 17 per cent in the middle of 2008 as oil prices fell from last year's record highs and the dollar strengthened.

Food Beverages and Tobacco were up 0.7 per cent in June compared with May, the paper said. The Gulf state's economy is likely to sustain growth of 7 to 9 per cent this year, the finance and economy minister has said.

The consumer price index stood at 125.16 points in June, Watan said, down from 126.13 points in May.

Qatar started in April publishing monthly figures for 2009 and using 2006 as its based year to better reflect household emirate.

Qatar and its five Gulf neighbours are working to align the methods they use to calculate consumer price inflation in preparation for monetary union, the Gulf Cooperation Council said last year.

Most of the states would begin using 2007 as the base year of the CPIs by this year, after conducting household spending surveys to change the weights of their consumer price baskets.