Qatar- Total broad money supply at QR506bn in March

5/4/2016 1:23:30 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mohammad Shoeb

DOHA: Qatar’s total broad money supply which is termed in economics as ‘M2’ was recorded at about QR506bn during March 2016 showing a marginal increase of 0.23 percent compared to February 2015 according to the Monthly Statistics bulletin released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.

The M2 is defined as a measure of money supply that includes cash and checking deposits (called M1) as well as ‘near money’ which include assets that are highly liquid but not cash for instance savings deposits money market mutual funds and other time deposits which are less liquid and not as suitable as exchange mediums but can be quickly converted into cash or checking deposits.

Similarly cash equivalents which includes deposits increased by 3.5 percent during March 2016 compared to February 2016 as it recorded about QR662bn. In contrast total broad money supply (M2) recorded a negative year-on-year change of 0.52 percent while cash equivalents including deposits recorded a positive year-on-year change of 6.5 percent.

The 27th edition of the monthly bulletin (Qatar; Monthly Statistics) which provides statistics and macro analysis of some key sectors including inflation demographic changes in Qatar suggest that the prices of consumable items in March have become more than three percent costlier than a year before.

The General Consumer Price Index (CPI) a measure of inflation of March 2016 showed an increase of 3.3 percent compared to March 2015.

This year-on-year price surge was primarily due to the increase in prices of consumer goods which are broadly classified in eight major groups namely: “Recreation and Culture” by 11.2 percent “Education” by 7.1 percent “Housing Water Electricity and Gas” by 5.4 percent “Furniture and Household Equipment” and “Transport“ by 1.5 percent each “Miscellaneous Goods and Services” by 1.4 percent “Restaurants and Hotels” by 1.1 percent and “Communication” by 0.2 percent.

The Peninsula

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