KUWAIT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Subsidy Sector has taken several steps in the past few years to accommodate the general hike in the prices of products worldwide , driven by the international financial crisis.

Despite this decrease in the price of foodstuff, the ministry continued to add new products on the subsidy list, allocated to citizens through the subsidy card at prices lower than those on the regular market.

A government source, close to both the Commerce and Industry Ministry and the Ministry of Social Affairs, said that official statistics showed that the prices of all new products provided to subsidy distribution centers dropped on the local market, compared to before their addition.

The source added that committees that followed up on this matter noticed a drop in prices at differing percentages depending on the area, explaining that demand on the products was a factor here.

He explained that on the local market, the price of these products dropped because demand had decrease - as people were obtaining them from subsidy centers instead of from regular supermarkets.

Najem Hamad, a consumer, said that he noticed the drop in prices in the local supermarket after the addition of products on the subsidy list, noting that residents who could not buy subsidized products had benefitted from this price decrease at local supermarkets.

He added that the products listed on the subsidy cards were of high quality and offered a variety of brands in each category, saying that this alleviated part of the financial burden on Kuwaiti families.

Meanwhile, Hamad Mana'e, another consumer, called on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to increase its efforts to provide more subsidy services, noting that many more families were now collecting subsidized items because of their value for money and high quality. According to the Subsidy Sector's records, there are 1.475 million Kuwaitis benefiting from 170,000 subsidy family cards. - Kuwait Times