UAE government officials keep eye on Ramadan grocery prices

Suppliers and retailers cannot increase prices of essential consumer commodities during Ramadan without consent from authorities

Shoppers at Lulu in Khalidiya mall busy stocking up for Ramadan month. Delores Johnson / The National

DUBAI // Government officials will be monitoring the price of groceries in supermarkets during Ramadan to deter any unauthorised price hikes

Suppliers and retailers cannot increase prices of essential consumer commodities during the holy month without written consent by the authorities, said Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the Minister of Economy.

During a meeting of the Higher Committee for Consumer Protection on Saturday, Mr Al Mansouri said that even a slight increase in any goods price required approval by the ministry.

“The ministry will conduct inspection visits to the shops and restaurants throughout the holy month to ensure their compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to consumer protection,” he said.

In the capital, the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (Scad) will also be monitoring the prices of goods during Ramadan, then presenting a weekly report on any changes.

Scad statistics show that in the week before the holy month began, there had been a number of price rises of some products.

It found the average price of fish and seafood rose by 3.6 per cent, the price of meat by 1.2 per cent and price of legumes by 1.3 per cent.

Conversely, the costs of fruit fell by 3.4 per cent.

A spokesman for Scad said the food price index data would be passed on to the government authorities to help them regulate prices, control inflation and protect consumers from exorbitant costs.

The data also helps show different consumption patterns so that products can be adequately supplied to supermarkets.