Saudi Arabia’s inflation climbed to an eight-month peak of 5.3 percent on an annual basis in September, official data showed on Sunday.
The rate was boosted by rises in the prices of miscellaneous products and services, according to the data from the Central Department of Statistics.
Analysts had expected consumer prices in the world’s top oil exporter to gather momentum this year after the government pledged early in 2011 to spend an estimated $130bn, or nearly 30 percent of annual economic output, on housing, job creation and other measures to improve social welfare.
The largest Arab economy is seen expanding by 6.2 percent in 2011 following 4.2 percent growth in 2010, helped by robust crude prices and generous government spending, according to a Reuters poll of analysts last month.
