Price of essential groceries to be slashed

The National -- The price of food items and most goods will fall by up to 50 per cent this month to coincide with the International Day of Happiness, the Ministry of Economy said.

“Prices will drop between 10 and 50 per cent on all food and household items,” said Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, director of the Ministry’s consumer protection department.

“We reduced the price of around 7,500 commodities, especially food that is consumed in large quantities,” Dr Al Nuaimi told The National.

“The reduction will specifically benefit families. Bread, sugar, rice are some of the items with prices that will be decrease,” said Dr Al Nuaimi.

He said they were slashing the prices of thousands of goods in a bid to "spread happiness among customers”.

The reduction has been agreed on with representatives of hypermarket chains.

Dr Al Nuaimi said that that prices of goods will be monitored during the reduction period, which will run from March 20 until April 20.

“Inspections will be carried out to ensure that no supermarkets or stallholders fail to abide by the price caps,” he said.

Inspectors from the ministry regularly carry out inspections on shops in the UAE.