Economists have warned of food price rises in Ramadan and called upon the Ministry of Commerce to reassure the public that local markets are sufficiently stocked. Shoura Council member Ihsan Abu Haliqah said the ministry should work to provide sufficient supplies “even if it has to import them itself,” and warned that there could be a lack of some products on markets in Ramadan, blaming the Consumer Protection Committee for “failing to curb price rises” which has encouraged some “unscrupulous” traders to stock up on some food products with the aim of raising prices. Economist Fadl Abu Al-Enain said that traders were abusing government subsidies of commodities like rice, milk powder and flour, and that without genuine control of the markets any further subsidies would only lead to increasing their profit margins.
