Qatar Economic Outlook Issue Number 13

Figure 1-10: CPI and Unit Value Index of 
Imports (%) 
-4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
YR
Q1
Q2
Q3
U
pToQ
3
2020
2021
Import Unit Value
CPI
Source:
Planning
and Statistics Authority
Figure 1-9: Forecasts of Non-Oil Commodity 
Price Indices (points) 
86.0 83.7 82.1 85.0 109.5 105.3 99.7 96.1 95.0 
87.4 
108.4 
83.2 80.0 78.5 78.4 83.8 82.2 81.4 80.9 80.3 
1.9
-2.7
-1.9
3.5
28.9
-3.9
-5.3
-3.6
-1.2
-10.0
-5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Actual
Forecast
Non-energy commodities
Food
Raw materials
Non-energy commodities (%)
Source: World Bank Commodities Price Forecast as of 
October 2021

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Part 1: Economic Outlook 2021 - 2023 
35 
The above and other reasons often lead to a 
change in the costs of importing goods for 
final consumption, raw and semi-finished 
materials as inputs to domestic production 
activities. However, thanks to the Qatari 
riyal's peg to the US dollar, which is relatively 
stable and its purchasing power fluctuates 
against the currencies of many of Qatar's 
trading partners, it helps mitigate the 
damages of imported inflation during sudden 
changes, Box (1-6). 
But it must be taken into account the risks of 
a decrease in the purchasing power of the 
dollar, as well as the risks of monetary policy 
in the United States of America, which at the 
present time and since the beginning of 
November 2021 are moving towards a 
transition from (unconventional) monetary 
policy
to a contractionary (ordinary) monetary 
policy, which will have repercussions on the 
course of monetary policies in Qatar as well 
as on the course of the inflation levels of 
Qatar's trading partners, which will have an 
impact on the Qatari economy. The most 
important of them are: financial activities and 
asset prices, including the stock exchange 
and insurance, foreign trade, the balance of 
payments, and levels of consumer spending 
on groups of goods for consumer and 
producer prices.