DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's consumer prices fell in May from a year earlier for the fifth month in a row, but the consumer price index (CPI) rose marginally from April, signaling that the kingdom is having some success in boosting its non-oil sector.
Government data showed on Wednesday that the CPI index fell 1.5% in May on an annual basis and was up 0.1% from April, data from the General Authority for Statistics showed.
The annual CPI decline has partly reflected the fading impact of last year's introduction of a value-added tax (VAT), economists have said.
Wednesday's data showed the sub-index for housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel prices fell 7.5 percent from a year earlier. The sub-index had fallen 7.8 percent in April.
Prices for food and drink, however, rose 1.8 percent, higher than the pace seen in April, and prices for education rose 1.3 percent, at the same pace registered in April.
"The continued and broad-based easing of deflation last month adds to the evidence that stronger activity in the non-oil sector is feeding through into prices," said Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics.
Non-oil growth is a measure of Saudi Arabia's slate of economic and fiscal reforms aimed at reducing its dependence on crude revenues in an era of lower oil prices.
The IMF said last month real non-oil growth is expected to strengthen to 2.9% in 2019, boosting overall economic growth to 1.9%, higher than its earlier projection of 1.8%.
Economists still expect deflation in 2019 after prices rose throughout 2018 following the introduction of the VAT, imposed to boost non-oil revenue.
Capital Economics expect Saudi CPI to fall 1.3 percent in 2019, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank projects the CPI index to decline 0.9 percent this year.
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