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Saudi King asks Officials to Explain Rising Prices | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has summoned the interior minister and provincial governors to explain rising inflation, which hit a seven-year high in August, Saudi media reported.

The king asked for “prompt reports” at the last weekly government meeting on Monday, Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks published on Thursday and Friday.

State-news agency SPA said the monarch met the interior minister and provincial governors on Wednesday.

Inflation in August was 4.4 percent from a year earlier, driven mainly by a record 12.1 percent jump in rents and a 6.6 percent rise in prices of food products, according to data released this week.

The data raised pressure on the central bank which is torn between the need to contain prices and avoid appreciation of its dollar-pegged currency.

In a full-page advertisement published on Saturday, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, the kingdom’s commercial capital, said the rise in prices was caused by external factors including the decline in the U.S. dollar, which hit record lows against a basket of six currencies last week.

Al-Jazirah newspaper quoted Prince Naif as saying it was important to examine whether the causes of inflation were domestic or external. The problem may have been blown out of proportion, he said.

“What is certain is that prices are higher in all neighbouring countries,” he said.

Inflation is rising across the Gulf Arab region. In May Kuwait broke ranks with its neighbours and dropped its peg to the dollar, saying the U.S. currency’s decline was making imports more expensive and fuelling inflation.

The Saudi central bank has repeatedly ruled out any change in currency policy, which forces it to shadow U.S interest rate moves to maintain the relative appeal of the riyal and hampers the fight against inflation.

The world’s largest oil exporter declined to match the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut last month, driving the riyal to a 21-year high on speculation that the central bank would allow the currency to rise against the dollar.

Before that, the Shura Council which advises the government on draft laws called for action after inflation hit 3.83 percent in July.