According to consumers, the price hikes also include commodities not usually consumed during Ramadan.

Abdul Aziz Daghestani, a Saudi schoolteacher, said merchants tend to increase commodity prices because the solutions suggested by concerned government departments were usually ambiguous and indecisive.

“The Commerce Ministry is either unable to supervise the market due to little resources or because it does not want to implement rules and regulations to control the market,” he said.

Mahmoud Hawsawi, a Saudi taxi driver, questioned the role of the Consumer Protection Society in keeping prices at a reasonable level and said its members should either undertake their role effectively or make way for others who were more capable.

The Commerce Ministry has warned traders and retailers against raising the prices of commodities as the holy month of Ramadan approaches and threatened to hand out severe punishments to violators, including shutting down their businesses.

Abdullah Al-Hazmi, a grocer, was astonished by the ministry’s calls not to raise prices and said free competition in the market is the only way to keep prices at reasonable levels. He called for new initiatives such as allowing cooperatives to import foodstuffs and said this is one way to reduce prices.

Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs Saleh Al-Khaleel said on Tuesday the new rules were aimed at stabilizing the market for consumers ensuring at the same time the rights of importers and producers.

“Any trader caught raising prices, especially foodstuffs, during Ramadan will be named and shamed in the media and his establishment initially closed down temporarily and then permanently if the violations are repeated under new rules to be applied by the ministry,” he said.

Commerce Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza on Sunday issued a similar statement in the wake of attempts by dairy manufacturers to raise their prices.

In compliance with the ministerial order, Almarai Co., which had raised prices of some of its products early this month, announced on Monday that it was reversing the decision and would keep the prices at the level prior to July 1. 

Al-Khaleel assured dairy companies the government would increase their subsidies to stabilize dairy prices.

He recalled that the ministry had intervened before to suppress price rises, particularly in steel, red bricks and barley. “A number of violators were duly caught and publicized,” he said, adding that the ministry had also suppressed attempts over the past two years to increase the prices of rice, sugar and baby food.