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Kuwait bans meat exports to fight inflation
Kuwait Times – 09 July, 2008
www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=415263&news_type=Economy&lang=en&PHPSESSID=7489bba6cd10e242832877df707236d9
Kuwait banned the export of sheep and frozen chicken as of August to
maintain sufficient supplies locally as part of efforts to fight record
inflation in the state, the official KUNA news agency reported yesterday.
The world’s seventh-largest oil exporter is fighting record inflation, which
hit 10.1 percent in February, the latest published figure as housing and
food costs soar.
As of Aug 1 the export of live and slaughtered sheep will be banned until
the end of 2008 and the export of frozen chicken until further notice, KUNA
reported, citing a commerce and industry ministry official. The ministry was
implementing a host of measures to prevent unjustified increases in prices,
Mohammad Al-Anzi, head of the supply department at the ministry, told KUNA.
Separately, daily Al-Watan said Commerce and Industry Minister Ahmad Baqer
has warned cooperative supermarkets not to increase prices without seeking
government approval. Cooperative supermarkets, where citizens can buy basic
foods subsidised by the government under a card scheme, “should not increase
prices of any food item without consulting the ministry”, Al-Watan newspaper
quoted Baqer as saying.
The paper said Baqer will meet representatives from the Union of Cooperative
Societies today to discuss high prices of foods and basic goods. The Cabinet
is under pressure from parliament to counter rising prices. The National
Assembly agreed last month to raise salaries for citizens working in the
public and private sectors to offset the impact of inflation, just four
months after another salary rise for the public sector. The cabinet
discussed on Monday a report by a committee investigating the rise of prices
of basic commodities, KUNA said.
