São Paulo – Saudi Arabia’s point-of-sale transactions climbed 6.3% to SAR 14.4 billion (USD 3.8 billion) in the week ending March 22, with jewelry once again leading the growth, Arab News reported on Wednesday.
The latest figures from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, showed that spending in the sector registered the largest increase in the value of transactions at 29.9% to reach SAR 544.4 million (USD 145 million).
Jewelry also saw a 34.4% surge in terms of the number of transactions, reaching 403,000.
The hotel sector ranked second with a 24.8% surge in transaction value to SAR 440 million (USD 117 million). Spending on clothing and footwear followed, rising 24.5%, holding the second-largest share of POS transactions at SAR 1.87 billion (USD 498 million).
Expenditure on transportation edged up by 6.9% to SAR 950.8 million (USD 253 million), and spending in restaurants and cafes increased by 3.7%, bringing the total value of transactions to SAR 1.5 billion (USD 399.5 million).
The smallest spending increases were in the telecommunications and the construction sectors.
Spending on education saw the steepest decline for the second week in a row, dropping 37.2% following a surge during the week when students returned from the winter break.
Expenditure on public utilities saw a dip and so did spending on food and beverages, and miscellaneous goods and services.
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