Saudi Inflation Rises Again in June, Hits Highest Rate This Year

Business

July 16th, 5:24am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Month on month, consumer prices in June increased by just 0.2% in Saudi Arabia - Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation rate rose to 6.2% in June, the highest this year, from 5.7% in May, official data showed on Thursday. June marked a third consecutive monthly rise reflecting an increase in value-added tax introduced last year. “Noting that consumer prices still reflect an increase of the value added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% in July 2020, the rise of the CPI resulted mainly from higher prices of transport (+22.6%) and food and beverages (+8.1%),” the General Authority for Statistics said. To help alleviate rising living costs, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, last week set a cap on local gasoline prices for July. Month on month, consumer prices in June increased by just 0.2%, the statistics authority said. Inflation is expected to start declining from July as the base effect of the VAT increase will drop out of the annual price comparison, London-based Capital Economics has said, Reuters reported. It estimated the headline rate will slow to around 1%-1.5% year on year. The International Monetary Fund has said it expects annual average inflation of 3.2% this year.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3083051/saudi-inflation-rises-again-june-hits-highest-rate-year