Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, which advises the government on draft laws, urged the authorities to tackle inflation that in July rose at the fastest pace in seven years as food-import and rent costs climbed.
Inflation in the world’s largest oil exporter, whose currency has been fixed to the US dollar at the same value since 1986, rose to 3.83% in July after a fall in the value of the dollar made food imports more expensive and rent costs rose at the fastest pace since at least 2004.
The rise in prices has had a direct impact on consumers and made conditions tough for both Saudi nationals and expatriates, said Shura Council speaker Sheikh Saleh bin Humeid.
“The high cost of living and the rise in prices, which affected many vital aspects, especially food and rent, is a problem one can lose sleep over,” bin Humeid said, according to state-run news agency Saudi Press Agency.
“It carries harmful indications in its folds that call for everybody, regardless of their ranks and their responsibilities, to look attentively and examine its causes and repercussions,” bin Humeid is quoted as saying.
The kingdom’s Trade and Industry Ministry has said in a report that the prices of rice, powder milk, cooking oil and meats rose in the third quarter of this year compared to the year-earlier period because of higher cost of imports, Saudi’s Al Watan daily reported today.
According to the paper, the Shura Council has said set up a special committee to study price increases in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s king appoints all 120 members of the Shura Council that serves for four years. Saudi Arabia is the most populous Gulf Arab state.
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