Consumer prices slide 0.4% in November

Doha : Consumer prices in Qatar have fallen 0.4 per cent in Nov-ember from the previous month, the sixth consecutive decline.

Prices fell by 5.2 per cent in the first 11 months of 2009, the state statistics office said on its web site yesterday. It did not give annual inflation.

Inflation across the Gulf has slowed after reaching more than 10 per cent in five countries of the region last year.

Oil prices have tumbled from July last year and the dollar, to which five of the six countries peg their currencies, has strengthened, making imports cheaper.

Credit crunch

Real-estate prices in gas-rich Qatar and elsewhere in the region have also slumped as the global credit crisis cut lending and deterred investors.

Rental prices dropped 2.8 per cent in November from the previous month, taking the decline since January to 16.3 per cent, the Qatari statistics office said.

EFG-Hermes SAE, Egypt's largest investment bank, is forecasting deflation of 5.2 per cent in Qatar in 2009 and 1.6 per cent inflation in 2010.