UAE supermarkets to have 50% sale for Ramadan

The UAE’s Ministry of Economy has announced an up to 50 per cent off sale affecting 10,000 products and good during the holy month of Ramadan.

Gulf News reports that the sale will take place during the whole month at 600 outlets, with some products sold at cost.

Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, director of consumer protection at the ministry said that cooperatives and supermarkets are expected to reduce prices between 25-50 per cent.

An open basked campaign at Union Coop is also being relaunched this year with packages of 10 and 20 items sold for less than Dhs100 and Dhs200 respectively.

Demand for commodities and food items typically soars during the holy month as families host their relatives and friends in the evening to break their fast.

This has forced authorities to crackdown on supermarkets that increase their prices to profit from the increased footfall.

Ramadan is expected to begin on Thursday, May 17 this year, Sharjah Centre for Astronomy and Space Sciences said last month.

Read: Ramadan likely to begin on May 17

The first day of Eid marking the end of the holy month is expected to fall on June 15.

A similar month-long sale was also launched last month to coincide with the International Day of Happiness on March 20.

Prices were decreased between 10 and 50 per cent on all food and household items at participating stores.

Read: UAE supermarkets to have month-long 50% sale

The two sales periods follow a difficult few months for UAE consumers, who have had to absorb price increases following the introduction of a 5 per cent value added tax on most essentials.

Consumer price inflation almost doubled in January, the month the tax was introduced, from 2.7 per cent to 4.8 per cent.

Even starker increases were seen in some areas with food and soft drink prices up 7.2 per cent and transport costs up 12.8 per cent.

Read: UAE inflation jumps with VAT but restrained by housing