Retail consumers have noticed a wave of rising prices at malls and supermarkets preceding the holy month of Ramadan. According to my knowledge, there is no justification for the rise in prices unless the retail sector has decided to put its losses from the recent world financial crisis on the shoulders of the consumer. An owner of a chain of supermarkets said that his losses would be transferred to the retail sector. No one questioned what seems like a slip of the tongue, albeit the truth.
As usual, there is no hope of intervention by the Ministry of Commerce. We despair because the Chamber of Commerce protects merchants. Paradoxically there is a department in each chamber to protect the consumer against artificial goods, which will affect the sales by the merchants themselves! These departments do not mean anything to the consumer. The voice of Saudi Society for the Protection of the Consumer is too weak in front of the merchants’ media machine. Sometimes I feel that this society is speaking from a deep ditch because of its weakness because other departments are not cooperating with it.
Many consumers do not look at prices before buying so they will be shocked when they come to the cashier and discover that the money they have in their pockets will be insufficient for their purchases.
I am not asking the government to make a decision to lower prices immediately but I do ask the government to deal with the greed of the merchants, which has gone beyond all limits. The Ministry of Commerce should shoulder its responsibility in this matter. It should not only ask people to look for alternatives but should do something to counter the merchants’ unashamed avarice. According to what I know, the inflation index has not moved down. Thus the decision-makers should study the price index and announce publicly the real reasons behind the increase in prices. We still have some time before Ramadan and things may change.
