The latest data released by Doha’s Planning Council shows the state’s consumer price index rose by 13.7 per cent for the third quarter on the back of a 28.8 per cent rise in rents and utility costs.

Household energy consumption rose by 13.7 per cent with the price of clothing increasing by 14 per cent.

Food, beverages and tobacco costs grew by 6.6 per cent.

Qatar’s inflation rose by a record 14.8 per cent at the end of March this year, prompting Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani to say he expected rents to keep increasing for two years, with softening unlikely until 2009.

Earlier this month, Qatar said it was mulling the introduction of laws for some sectors of the economy, including real estate regulations, in a bid to tackle double-digit inflation.