Riyadh – Mubasher: The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of Saudi Arabia rose 13.2% in April this year when compared to the same month in 2020, according to official data on Thursday.

The annual rise in the WPI mainly resulted from 16.5% higher prices of metal products, machinery, and equipment. It was also affected by the increase of the value-added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% in July 2020.

Wholesale prices increased 2.2% month-on-month (MoM), higher than 8.7% in March, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) said.

The monthly rise was attributed to a 3.8% increase in prices of other transportable goods in April compared to the previous month.

Gastat data earlier showed a 5.3% rise in the Kingdom’s inflation rate in April.