Qatar's inflation was forecast to remain high at over 8 percent in 2006, the Qatar-based newspaper Gulf Times reported on Friday.
The forecast was made by Qatar National Bank (QNB) in its soon- to-be-published Qatar Economic Review, said the times.
According to the QNB, the prices of most essential items in Qatar had been rising, which was primarily due to the impact of rent spike on commercial and trading establishments.
The Qatari housing sector saw a steep increase by 26.2 percent in 2005, after a rise of 16.2 percent in 2004 and 18 percent in 2003.
The recent 50 percent increase in cooking gas prices and last year's markup in petrol tariff have also pushed up the prices of essential commodities and foodstuff.
Quoting the Qatari Planning Council, the QNB said inflation stood at a record high of 8.8 percent in 2005 compared to 6.8 percent in 2004.
Qatar's inflation hovered around 2 percent till 2000.
Analysts concerned believe inflation is unavoidable in a rapidly growing economy. The Gulf country's economy grew by 27.1 percent in 2005-2006 fiscal year, and the forecast for 2006-2007 is 17 percent.
"When your economy is growing at over 27 percent or even at 17 percent, there ought to be some inflationary pressure," an analyst was quoted as saying
Qatar's inflation was forecast to remain high at over 8 percent in 2006, the Qatar-based newspaper Gulf Times reported on Friday.
The forecast was made by Qatar National Bank (QNB) in its soon- to-be-published Qatar Economic Review, said the times.
According to the QNB, the prices of most essential items in Qatar had been rising, which was primarily due to the impact of rent spike on commercial and trading establishments.
The Qatari housing sector saw a steep increase by 26.2 percent in 2005, after a rise of 16.2 percent in 2004 and 18 percent in 2003.
The recent 50 percent increase in cooking gas prices and last year's markup in petrol tariff have also pushed up the prices of essential commodities and foodstuff.
Quoting the Qatari Planning Council, the QNB said inflation stood at a record high of 8.8 percent in 2005 compared to 6.8 percent in 2004.
Qatar's inflation hovered around 2 percent till 2000.
Analysts concerned believe inflation is unavoidable in a rapidly growing economy. The Gulf country's economy grew by 27.1 percent in 2005-2006 fiscal year, and the forecast for 2006-2007 is 17 percent.
"When your economy is growing at over 27 percent or even at 17 percent, there ought to be some inflationary pressure," an analyst was quoted as saying