Inflation in Saudi Arabia may accelerate further in the coming months, after hitting a one-year high of 5.4 percent year-on-year in May on rents and food prices, economists said on Monday. Price pressures are seen rising again this year as oil exporters recover but inflation is expected to stay in single digits across the Gulf. Inflation in the biggest Arab economy started picking up again after slowing to a two-and-a-half year low of 3.5 percent in October. It stood at 4.9 percent in April, which is still well below a record high of 11.1 percent seen in July 2008. Saudi consumer prices now stand at the highest level among six Gulf oil producers. Month-on-month, prices in the world's top oil exporter rose 0.6 percent in May, a seven-month high, after a 0.3 percent increase in April, data showed late on Sunday. Housing costs, which account for 18 percent of the basket, jumped by 1.1 percent month-on-month in May, their fastest pace in the last 11 months, and were up 9.4 percent on the year. Inflation forecast for the Kingdom to 5.2 percent from 4.9 percent after the May data.
