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The king asked for ‘prompt reports’ at the last weekly government meeting on Monday, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks published on Thursday and Friday.

SPA said the monarch met the interior minister and provincial governors on Wednesday.

Inflation in August was 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, driven mainly by a record 12.1 percent jump in rents and a 6.6 per cent rise in prices of food products, according to data released this week.

The data raised pressure on the central bank which is torn between the need to contain prices and avoid appreciation of its dollar-pegged currency.

In a full-page advertisement published today, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, the kingdom’s commercial capital, said the rise in prices was caused by external factors including the decline in the US dollar, which hit record lows against a basket of six currencies last week.

Al Jazirah newspaper quoted Prince Nayef as saying it was important to examine whether the causes of inflation were domestic or external. The problem may have been blown out of proportion, he said.

‘What is certain is that prices are higher in all neighbouring countries,’ he said.

Inflation is rising across the GCC region. In May Kuwait broke ranks with its neighbours and dropped its peg to the dollar, saying the US currency’s decline was making imports more expensive and fuelling inflation.

The Saudi central bank has repeatedly ruled out any change in currency policy, which forces it to shadow US interest rate moves to maintain the relative appeal of the riyal and hampers the fight against inflation.

The world’s largest oil exporter declined to match the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut last month, driving the riyal to a 21-year high on speculation that the central bank would allow the currency to rise against the dollar.

Before that, the Shura Council which advises the government on draft laws called for action after inflation hit 3.83 per cent in July. Reuters

It was reported that the increase of inflation rate in August was contributed by the rising rents and the increase price of food and beverage components of the index. Both of the causes has increased as much as 12.1 percents and 6.6 percents respectively. The year 1995 was the last highest inflation rate recorded in Saudi Arabia at 4.98%. Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council urged the authorities last month to tackle inflation and asked the finance minister to appear before it to discuss the problem. More steps has been assured to be taken in the following months by the Saudi’s authority to control the situation.