The 5.3 percent annual increase was mainly due to higher food and transport prices Annual inflation was 3.4 percent in 2020, picking up in the second half of the year DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate quickened to 5.3 percent in April from 4.9 percent the previous month, still reflecting an increase in value-added tax last year, official data showed. The 5.3 percent annual increase was mainly due to higher food and transport prices, the General Authority for Statistics said. “Prices of food and beverages recorded the highest annual increase of 8.4 percent, mainly due to the increase in food prices,” it said. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices increased 0.2 percent. Annual inflation was 3.4 percent in 2020, picking up in the second half of the year after Saudi authorities tripled a value-added tax to 15 percent to bolster coffers hurt by the coronavirus crisis and lower oil prices. Saudi Arabia’s economy shrank 3.3 percent in the first quarter this year from a year earlier, hit by oil output cuts, but the non-oil economy expanded 3.3 percent, recovering from the pandemic, according to flash government estimates earlier this month. The Kingdom’s economy, the largest in the Arab world, is expected to grow 2.1 percent in 2021 after shrinking 4.1 percent last year, the International Monetary Fund said this month. The Fund said that, while plans to adjust Saudi finances were making good progress, authorities could consider increasing spending to support low-income households and help offset the loss of purchasing power after consolidation measures introduced last year.