RIYADH, Jan 5: Prices of food products, which account for the largest chunk of Saudis’ spending, may rise by up to 30 per cent in 2008 due to a drop in global supplies and the US dollar’s weakness, the Trade Ministry said on Saturday.

The Trade and Industry Ministry has urged Saudi importers and wholesalers to pile up “enough stocks” of the main food products, it said in its annual provisioning report.

The report signals that inflation will continue rising in the world’s largest oil exporter in 2008 after it reached 5.35 per cent in October, its highest level since at least 2005.

Two ministry officials confirmed to Reuters the contents of the report carried by two local newspapers.

The main factors are a drop in farming crops ... and the decline in the dollar’s exchange rate and the rise in exchange rates of other currencies,” the ministry said in the report.—Reuters