MAKKAH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said pricing of food products is the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce and Investment. A source from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said the role of the ministry is to make sure the menu and product prices are displayed clearly for customers. "The various municipalities in the Kingdom care about the comfort and satisfaction of the customer. The municipalities are only responsible for ensuring that the prices of food products in restaurants are displayed clearly to the customers," said the source. Consumers say traders manipulate prices of essential goods on their whim in the absence of strict monitoring by the authorities. A customer complained about restaurants and cafes not adhering to the prices defined by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment. Inflation Rate in Saudi Arabia averaged 2.79 percent from 2000 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 11.10 percent in July of 2008, according to data made available by the Central Department of Statistics and Information. Consumer prices rose 4.1 percent year-on-year in June of 2016. "Restaurants and cafes are ignoring the ministry's regulated prices and the ministry is not inspecting them to take action. Even when the prices of meat, chicken and rice go down, the restaurants still have high prices," said the customer. The customer also said restaurants gain over 100 percent profit from a single meal. "Restaurants buy 900 gram chicken for SR7 but sell them for about SR28 with rice. Their profit is over 100 percent. The prices at restaurants do not reflect the market. The Ministry of Commerce and Investment must do something to regulate the pricing," said the customer.
