Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 5.3% in December 2020, compared to the same month of 2019.

Higher CPI is driven by the increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15% in July 2020 from 5%, according to a report by Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

In addition, the prices of food and beverages and transport sectors jumped by 12.7% and 6.9%, respectively.

On a monthly basis, the CPI went down by 0.2% in December 2020, compared to November.

The prices of the transport, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, and clothing and footwear sectors declined by 1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%, respectively.