Nayef bin Fawwaz Al-Sharif, head of the Food and Trade Retailers Committee, said that the recommendations on price stability will be presented to the JCCI committee, to be finally submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry and the relevant authorities.

Al-Sharif praised the efforts of the Jeddah police, Jeddah municipality and the branch of the Ministry of Commerce in Makkah which resulted in a decline in the number of vendors near mosques and in public places in Jeddah, cleaner streets and Corniche.

According to consumers, vegetable and fruit prices have already increased. Nusrat Zaman said marrows are available in the market from SR10 to SR11 per kilo, when normally it’s available for SR3 to SR4 per kilo. Tomatoes, which were being sold for SR5.95 per kilo last week, are now at SR7.95 per kilo.

Another consumer, Ishrat Ahmed, complained that the prices of all commodities, especially those needed in Ramadan, are increasing. “Lemon was available for SR5 per kilo and it is already SR11 per kilo now, potatoes were SR3.95 until last week and prices have now increased to SR4.95/kilo,” she said. Meat prices have also increased and the dealers say that prices increase as demand increases.