Basic food Prices shoot up in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province

Prices shoot up in Eastern Province
By ARAB News – 23 January, 2012

DAMMAM: Prices of a number of basic commodities including baby milk, vegetables and cosmetics have gone up about five percent in recent weeks in the Eastern Province, business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Sunday, quoting a number of consumers from the region.

The residents asked the government authorities concerned to intervene quickly to put an end to the “unjustified price hikes.”

The residents called for the intensification of inspection tours of shops and pharmacies to check the prices of foodstuffs, including sugar, meat and baby milk, and other commodities that were raised by between SR9 and SR13 without previous notice.

They said less than a month after the announcement of the general budget, the prices of these commodities were increased by more than five percent.

The consumers questioned the usefulness of the market inspection teams and demanded uniform prices for the same items in shops and pharmacies. They also wondered if the Consumer Protection Association existed in the region.

They called for a telephone number through which they could reach the officials in charge of prices, whether at the Ministry of Commerce in case of commodities or the Health Ministry for medicines.

The residents asked the authorities concerned to impose punitive measures on violating shops including fines, defamation and final closure of the premises.

According to some pharmacists who spoke on condition of anonymity, the prices of baby milk were raised by SR5 to SR9, while cosmetics were raised by SR3 and diapers by SR5 to SR10. They noted that prices of the same commodity differed from one pharmacy to another even though they might be only 500 meters apart.

The pharmacists denied they have any hand in the price hikes and said it was the company owning the pharmacy that decides the price of each commodity.

Chairman of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Industry Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid said the chamber had nothing to do with the rise in the prices of foodstuffs, vegetables and baby milk. “This is the responsibility of the Commerce Ministry, not the chamber,” he said.

Al-Rashid said the chamber was not authorized to check prices, but it had been constantly asking traders not to increase prices.

He also said shops that offered sales would inform the chamber, which in turn would address the Commerce Ministry to agree or refuse.
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