Saudi Arabia’s Jan inflation rate up 1.2% y/y – govt data

Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index rose 1.2% in January from a year earlier, fuelled by higher transport prices, government data showed on Tuesday.

Transport prices increased by 4.9%, mainly due to the rise in gasoline prices by 34.5%, the General Authority for Statistics said in a statement.

“Transport prices were the main driver of the inflation rate in January 2022 due to their high relative importance in the Saudi consumer basket,” it said, citing the segment’s 13% CPI weight on the inflation basket.

Oil prices are trading at their highest in more than seven years.

Saudi Arabia’s CPI rose 0.2% month-on-month in January, the statement said.Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Himani Sarkar

This article was originally published by Reuters.