Soaring house rents fuel Qatar inflation rate

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INFLATION FIGURES: Qatar Central Bank figures show soaring rents were the main factor behind the inflation rate. (Getty Images)

Soaring house rents were the single largest driver of higher inflation in the country last year, the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) announced in its annual report for 2007.

The banking regulator said inflation reached 14 percent at the end of last year.

According to the QCB, house rents mounted inflationary pressure beyond expectations and soared last year due to a severe housing shortage.

The shortfall was the result of a near-exploding population, which is growing due to a rapid influx of foreign workers into the country.

And Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), in a report released recently, put the rate even higher in the first and second quarters of the current year.

The price rise peaked at a high of 16.59 percent in the second quarter of this year, breaking all previous records, reported Qatar daily The Peninsula on Friday.

The 2007 inflation peaked at 14.77 percent in the first quarter and it slipped to 12.82 percent in the second.

It shot up again to reach 13.73 percent in the third quarter with the fourth quarter at 13.74 percent.

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