Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March 2013. The CPI reached 113.9, showing an increase of 0.4% when compared to the CPI of February 2013, and an increase of 3.6% compared to the CPI of March, 2012.   A comparison of the CPI of March, 2013 with that of the previous month (CPI of February, 2013) by major groups, shows increases in five groups, namely: “Entertainment, recreation and culture”, 0.9%, caused by increases in prices of tourism package ; “Food, Beverages & Tobacco”, 0.7%, resulting mainly from the price increases of fresh Fruits, and vegetables, ;“Rent, Fuel and Energy, by 0.7 % ;“Transport and Communications by 0.6%, primarily due to rise of travel fares; and “Furniture, Textiles and Home Appliances”, by 0.3%.On the other hand, a drop of 0.5% in prices of Garments and Footwear and 0.4 % in “Miscellaneous goods & services” is noticed. The year-on-year comparison, comparing the CPI of March 2013 with that of March 2012, shows increases of 3.6% at the overall level. Increases were recorded in all the groups except “Miscellaneous goods & services” where prices declined by 0.6%. The highest increases were recorded in the groups: “Entertainment, recreation and culture”: 8.7%, “Rent, Fuel and Energy: 5.5%, and “Furniture, Textiles & Home Appliances”: 4.8%, “Food, Beverages & Tobacco”: 2.5% and Transport and Communications by 1.9%. A CPI exclusive of “Rent, Fuel and Energy” group has also been calculated. After eliminating the effect of rent, the overall index reached 125.6, showing an increase of 0.4% compared to the CPI of February 2013, and an increase of 3.0% when compared to the month of March 2012. More details on consumer price indices are available on QALAM: www.qix.gov.qa .