DOHA: A debate raged on local social networking sites here on Sunday on rising prices.
Those who saw galloping inflation as a worrisome trend in the country blamed it on soaring rents. There were others, though, who said the price rise was normal and Qatar was still a cheaper place to live as compared to London, for example.
One commentator said that moving eastward from Qatar, in Asian countries, the cost of living was much lower.
But the opposite was true when one moved westward, he argued, suggesting that the rising cost of living here was something normal.
Another commentator highlighted the difference in house rents in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to show the former was an expensive place. He claimed that the rents were higher many times over in Qatar as compared to the neighboring country.
In Saudi Arabia, average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment was equivalent of QR2,557, while in Qatar it was many times over — a whopping QR16,100.
Yet another commentator, however, said he wondered if high rents were the only reason why things were expensive in Qatar.
“If that is so why things are costlier in Souq Waqif where shop rents are bare minimum,” asked the commentator.
The reality is that it is a trend in the Qatari market to sell things expensive, said the commentator.
One man taking part in the debate said that a restaurant in a smaller place like Umm Salal commanded a monthly rent of QR23,000. “So it is natural for people to expect that this outlet would sell food expensive to recover its high operating costs,” said the man.
Another person, participating in the lively debate, said that people think that Qataris are very rich and so they must be taken for a ride.
“I had to change my bathroom geyser and the electrician demanded QR500 just for fixing it,” said the man.
Still another commentator, talking about how he relied on a contractor to build his villa admeasuring 380 sq meters, said he had to cough up QR1.8m for that. “Supposing I could organize the masons and workers on my own I would have been able to get my villa built for less than a third of that prices—for just QR500,000,” said the commentator.
There were others who attributed rising prices to increasing population and said a heavier influx of people into the country should have been closely monitored. Much of the price rise in the country is due to rising population, argued the commentator.
The Peninsula
