Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for March 2021 rose 8.7% year-on-year (YoY), according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

The WPI was also higher by 0.8% compared with its 7.3% reading for February.

GaStat attributed the increase of the WPI in March to a rise of 14.6% in the prices of metal products, machinery, and equipment.

The rise in the WPI was also due to “the overall impact of the increase of the value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% in July 2020,” according to the authority.

The monthly rise in the index, meanwhile, was affected by a 2.2% increase in prices of other transportable goods compared to February. This can be attributed to a rise of 4.1% in the prices of refined petroleum products.

GaStat also reported that the Kingdom’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 4.9% in March 2021, up from the same month last year.