KUWAIT: With the local prices of many goods doubling in recent months, the level of public complaint at these steep increases has been rising. One item that's seen a sharp price rise recently has been cigarettes, whose prices have increased by 20 percent and more dependent on the brand in recent months, but it's certainly not the only item whose rising cost has been prompting complaint. Abu Abdullah, a staff member at Jabriya Co-op, blamed the rise in cigarette prices on suppliers. "The price rise in cigarettes was caused by greedy traders demanding higher prices for cigarettes," he told the Kuwait Times.

The supermarket's decision not to stock one well-known brand of milk after the suppliers raised the prices also led to complaints from many customers. "We posted a letter of apology [for customers] explaining that this brand of milk wasn't available at our supermarket due to the price rise demanded by the importing firm," explained Abu Abdullah, warning, "There are also other goods that will subject to price increases soon, such as coffee, biscuits and other items.

Staff at Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Co-op, however, denied that there had been significant price rises on many commodities there, although they admitted that there were shortages of some types of milk due to the price increases demanded by the suppliers. "We aren't selling the items at an increased price," said one staff member, who gave his name as Khalid.

Some customers think that the price of some products has risen, but it's not true. Occasionally we have promotions on certain goods and after three or four days the promotion's over and the price goes back to the original one so [customers] think it was increased. Here the situation is worse as most of the residents of this area are expats on low salaries.

At Daiya Co-op, a staff member who gave his name as Ahmad said that prices are definitely rising, adding, "the Cooperative Union is responsible for price regulation, so when they stop us from selling certain products we can't stock them. At the moment, for instance, we don't have a certain variety of milk due to the price increase. Also the prices of some types of chocolate have risen but only by about 10 percent, so they're still selling. In additing, the cigarettes have risen in price by about KD1 per ca
rton [of 200].

At Al-Qurain Co-op, customer Ibtisam said that she and many others have noticed sharp increases in the prices of some items. "During the past few months, I've noticed terrible increases in the price of one brand of tea, which went up from 700 fils [per box] to KD1.200. Also the price of a popular brand of baby soap went up almost 100 percent from 450 fils to 800 fils. Then there's a brand of tissues that increased from KD1.100 to KD1.700. The prices are really mad!

Mohammed, a 50-year-old expatriate who was shopping at another popular supermarket well known for its low prices, was also disgruntled at the steep recent price increases. "For instance, the price of a Mortadella has gone up from 990 fils to KD1.400, with the cost increasing gradually until it reached this amount," he said, adding, "The cost of sweets has increased incredibly. A box of chocolates containing 48 chocolates used to cost KD2.100. Now the same box contains only 35 chocolates and cost KD2.600. - Kuwaittimes