Qatar’s PPI strengthens in March: PSA

Qatar’s PPI strengthens in March: PSA

Qatar's producer price index (PPI) soared 69.48% year-on-year this March with the country's hydrocarbons sector and certain manufacturing businesses as chemicals, refined petroleum and plastic products facing significant price pressure, according to official estimates.

Qatar's PPI, which captures the price pressure felt by the producers of goods and services, rose 8.88% on a monthly basis in the review period, according to figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA had released a new PPI series in late 2015. With a base of 2013, it draws on an updated sampling frame and new weights. The previous sampling frame dates from 2006, when the Qatari economy was much smaller than today and the range of products made domestically much narrower.

The hardening of the global crude oil and industrial input prices had its reflection in the PPI.

The mining PPI, which carries the maximum weight of 82.46%, reported a 75.05% surge year-on-year in March 2022 as the average selling price of crude petroleum and natural gas was seen soaring 75.19% and that of stone, sand and clay by 10.39%.

The mining PPI escalated 9.87% on a monthly basis in March this year on the back of a 9.88% jump in the average selling price