Saudi consumer price index jumps to 6.1% after VAT increase

Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index jumped 6.1 percent in July compared with a year earlier, boosted by a tripling of value-added tax.

The annual inflation rate in June was 0.5 percent, the smallest increase since January, before the VAT increase to 15% from 5% came into effect on July 1.

The jump in annual inflation reflected price increases in most categories, the General Authority for Statistics said. Food and transport were major contributors, rising by 14.6 percent and 7.3 percent respectively.