Saudi Central Bank Predicts Stable Q2 Inflation

Saudi Arabia’s central bank said it expected stable inflation in the second quarter of this year, with weak global commodity prices offsetting any upward pressure due to seasonal demand.

“Some commodity prices could see an increase in demand as a result of the expected increase in consumer demand to prepare for the season of Ramadan and Eid during the second quarter of 2015,” the central bank said in a quarterly report. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin on June 18 this year.

But the central bank added, “The outlook still points to stable inflation locally as a result of a decrease in prices of major commodities globally.”

Saudi consumer prices rose two per cent from a year earlier in March, the slowest rate since at least September 2012, when the current data series began.