Saudi consumer inflation up 1.1 pct in November on higher prices for gasoline

Saudi consumer inflation up 1.1 pct in November on higher prices for gasoline

Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index increased by 1.1 percent in November from a year earlier and was 0.2 percent higher on the month, government data showed on Wednesday. The rise was mainly the result of higher prices for transport, which increased by 5.7 percent on the back of higher gasoline prices, up by 47.9 percent year on year, the General Authority for Statistics said.

“Transport prices were the main driver of the inflation rate in November 2021 due to their high relative importance in the Saudi consumer basket,” it said. Saudi Arabia has said in its 2022 budget that the inflation rate this year is expected to rise to 3.3 percent on average, due to the fading of the base effect of a tripling of value added tax in July last year. It forecast inflation to rise to 1.3 percent on average next year.

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