Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi cost of living index (inflation) has increased 2.9% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2018, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) said.

The tobacco section registered a 54.4% rise in the three-month period ended March 2018 after putting the selective tax into effect, while the clothes and footwear section fell 7.8%, the SAMA’s report added.

In the same vein, the wholesale prices jumped 16.5% during Q1-18, compared to the year-ago period, the report showed.

The kingdom’s inflation rose 3.9% from Q4-17, while wholesale price index levelled up 16.3%, compared to the previous quarter.

The Saudi central bank forecast that inflation ratio will rise during Q2-18.