This puts inflation in the OPEC member at the top end of Gulf crude producers but still below record double-digit peaks seen in 2008.

Month-on-month, the cost of living rose 0.5 percent in September, the same pace seen in the previous month, although food price growth cooled from its August peak.

In remarks to Al Arabiya television channel on Tuesday, SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency) Gov. Muhammad Al-Jasser said monetary policy measures would be useless in curbing rising inflation, which he attributed to an increase in global food prices, echoing his September comments.

“The inflation rate is increasing in the Kingdom,” Al-Jasser said. “It has not reached very worrying levels,” Al-Jasser said, referring to the August figures. “On the monetary policy front, there is nothing to be done when growth in money supply is not big and when it (inflation) is not caused by a rise in demand.”

He said on Sept. 26 that monetary policy can do little to tame “worrying” inflationary pressures driven by factors outside its reach, such as a surge in food prices. “Despite the Kingdom being an importing country, it manages its inflation well. SAMA also plays an important role in controlling its monetary policy,” Faisal Alsayrafi, managing director and CEO of the Financial Transaction House, said.

John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi, said the inflationary pressures Saudi Arabia is facing are difficult to address over a short period of time given that food prices locally are influenced by global trends. Rental inflation is a domestic challenge, however, which requires structural fixes and an ample supply of housing units.

Keep in mind that inflation in 2008 was rising at very worrying levels, reaching in July of that year 11 percent.

“I don’t think that we are on a similar trend this time around. Today, inflation is higher than 2009 but not to the same degree as 2008. Last year inflation averaged 5.1 percent and this year it should average around 5.3 percent, so the increase on an average annual basis is not significant yet it has been on a rising trend, especially many widely consumed food items,” Sfakianakis said, adding on a year-on-year basis inflation of 6.1 percent is the peak and we should begin to see some easing in the months to come.

Soaring food and housing costs have been the main factors behind the inflation spike this year, with prices rising respectively by 0.9 percent and 0.5 percent month-on-month in September.