Citizens at Al-Baha commercial market told Al-Madinah Arabic daily that price rises do not give any chance for consumers to breathe.

Those affected also include those running small grocery stores. They say that skyrocketing prices have resulted in lower sales of many consumer goods except sugar.

Grocery store owner Muhammad Ali said that most foodstuffs have maintained a steady increase over the last four months.

“There has been no considerable fall in prices. This deals a severe blow to owners of small grocery stores,” he said.

He blamed the wholesale traders for the current situation. “The greed on the part of some wholesale traders has harmed us very much. Prices of most food items were reasonable until a few months ago,” he said.

Mabkhout Saeed, an employee at a wholesale shop in Al-Baha, said there has been a steady increase in the prices of most consumer goods except sugar over the past few months. The price of sugar per 10 kg bag dropped to SR38, he said.

Ali Al-Zahrani, a citizen, said some people stopped buying certain goods due to the price hike.

He urged the Ministry of Commerce and other agencies concerned to intervene and end the suffering of the people. He called the price hikes unfair and unjustifiable.

Fellow citizen Faisal Al-Zahrani noted that there has been a huge hike in the prices of goods, especially cooking oil and yoghurt.

Saeed Al-Hasani urged the authorities to intensify inspections on retailers selling essential goods and take stringent punitive measures against those who unjustifiably increase the price of foodstuffs, particularly vegetables and red meat.

Meanwhile, Fahd Al-Zahrani, another consumer, drew attention to inconsistent pricing. He said the difference in the price of a single food item varied wildly from one store to another.

“The ministry should intensify inspections and take strict penal action against those who resort to recklessly hiking prices,” he said.

Ziyadh Al-Zahrani said that price hikes on food has increased the pressure on consumers considerably, especially in the wake of growing inflationary trends.

“Most people are not in a position to meet their basic needs with their income due to the upward trend in prices. There are no opportunities for consumers to breathe,” he said while attributing price hikes mainly to the greed and exploitation of traders.