Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's Consumer Price Index (CPI), known as inflation, declined by 1.9% year-on-year in April, and remained unchanged month-on-month, according to recent data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).
The kingdom’s inflation went down by a yearly average of 2.1% during the first four months of 2019, Jadwa Investment said in its report issued on Monday.
“We have revised our full-year inflation forecast to -1.7%, year-on-year, which partly reflects the price base effect from 2018, due to [the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT)] and energy and utility price reforms,” the report highlighted.
Prices of food and beverages increased by 1.1% during the four-month period ended in April, with the main price rises coming from vegetables.
Housing and utilities’ prices fell 8% year-to-April, pressured by the impact of rentals for housing, declining by an average of 9.1% in the four-month period.
Prices of transportation plunged 0.5% in the year-to-April, despite a 0.3% rise in April.
