Saudi Arabian inflation will average 4.3 percent this year as global commodity prices fall, Al Rajhi Capital, the investment arm of the country's largest lender by market value, said Sunday in a report. Consumer prices rose an annual 5.3 percent in December, the Saudi Press Agency reported Jan. 14, citing data from the Central Department of Statistics. Saudi inflation edged down to its lowest rate in four years in 2011 as lower rents and food prices more than offset a rise in other components of the consumer price index, Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment firm said. It put total inflation at five percent in 2011, down from 5.3 percent in 2010 and 5.1 percent in 2009. The rate hit a record annual high of 9.9 percent in 2008. “Annual average inflation for 2011, at five percent, was little changed from the previous two years. Inflation for food and rent (the largest components of the cost of living index) slowed, offsetting rises in most other categories,” Jadwa said. A breakdown showed housing and related items shrank to 7.8 percent in 2011 from 9.5 percent in 2010 to maintain a downward trend since 2008, when it climbed to an all time high of 17.5 percent before falling to 14.1 percent in 2009.
