Riyadh - Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's wholesale price index increased by around 5.2% in December 2020, compared to the year-ago period.

The rise in the whole price index is attributed to higher prices of the agriculture and fishery products section by 14.8% and the value-added tax (VAT) to 15% in July 2020, according to a report by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

Meanwhile, the prices of refined petroleum products declined by 20.1% year-on-year (YoY), which is one of the factors that have a dampening effect on the whole price inflation.

On a monthly basis, the wholesale price index went up by 0.1% in December 2020, driven by higher prices of metal products, machinery, and equipment by 0.8%.

The prices of agriculture and fishery products and ores and minerals declined by 2.2% and 0.9%, respectively.