São Paulo – Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index recorded a 1.1% year-on-year decrease in August, economic news website Zawya by Thomson Reuners reported this Thursday (26). It’s the country’s eighth consecutive month of deflation.
According to Zawya, the decrease in prices was mainly attributed to a 6.5% annual drop in the category of housing, water, electricity and gas. But other categories recorded an increase such as food and beverages (1%) education and transport (1.3%) and restaurants and hotels (1%). Figures were released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics.
Zawya reports that Saudi Arabia went into deflation in January, as the impact of taxes imposed earlier by Saudi authorities subsided. Starting January, Saudi government started charging a Value-Added Tax of 5% on goods and services.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
