Economic updates
Our in-depth, independent reports cover the macroeconomic environment, the Saudi government’s annual budget, and Saudi Arabia’s monetary and financial developments, labor market, and inflation.
Inflation Update- (March 2015): CPI slows for the Seventh consecutive month
The Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI) has released Consumer Price Index data for March, showing a deceleration in prices to 2.0 percent year-on-year compared to 2.1 percent in February. Foodstuffs continued to slow as the deflationary trend in international food prices grew further. Housing remained the major contributor to overall inflation despite a slowdown in March. Our estimate of core inflation, which excludes food and rent and other housing services, remained almost unchanged at 2 percent since the start of 2015.
Inflation Update- (May 2015):Inflation remains subdued ahead of Ramadan
Inflation reportThe Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI) has released Consumer Price Index data for May, showing a small acceleration in prices to 2.1 percent year-on-year, compared to 2.0 percent in April. In month-on-month terms, prices slowed to 0.1 percent in May compared to 0.3 percent in April. Foodstuffs rose year-on-year but recorded a slowdown in monthly terms as well. Housing inflation continued to be the major contributor to overall inflation. Our estimate of core inflation remained unchanged.
Saudi Labor Market Outlook
The Saudi labor market has undergone significant and dynamic change over the course of the last decade. The labor market is notably segmented and unique challenges are being encountered with the employment of Saudi nationals into the private sector. This report analyses the transformation that has taken place and looks ahead to the potential significant challenges still facing the labor market within the Kingdom. In this report, we analyze the interesting trends from the period 2005-15 and present three different scenarios as part of our forecast for the period 2015-25.