Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's consumer price index (inflation) registered a 2.8% year-on-year increase in March 2018, data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed.
The inflation growth was attributed to a 54.1% leap in tobacco section, while the transport section went up 10.4%, the GASTAT added.
While the restaurants and hotels, food and beverages, and health segments rose 6.8%, 6%, and 3.8%, respectively, the state-run entity noted.
The GASTAT stated that the rise in tobacco section was attributed to the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT).
Month-on-month, Saudi inflation edged down 0.2% to 107.9 points in the third month of 2018, from 108.1 points in February.
