Saudi Arabia’s Inflation Rate Surges to 6.2% YoY in August

Saudi Arabia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 6.2% year-on-year (YoY) in August 2020, compared to the same month in the previous year (August 2019) according to a statement released by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat), Saudi Arabia’s official statistics agency.

This was the second consecutive increase in the CPI after a tripling of value-added tax to 15% from 5% came into effect on the 1st of July 2020, which had an overall impact on consumer prices in the Kingdom, with the annual inflation rate reaching 6.1% in July 2020, from only 0.5% in June 2020 as stated by GaStat.

According to GaStat, the rise in CPI in August 2020 was driven by an increase...