Kuwait to put a stop to greedy merchants

Board Chairman of the union of Kuwaiti foodstuff distributors and importers Abdullah Al-Beijan said Wednesday that the union is keen on protecting consumers against any exploitation from greedy merchants and traders amid the skyrocketing food prices. Speaking to (KUNA), Beijan said Kuwaiti traders take into consideration consumers and their burdens when they set the prices of their products. But he admitted that the food prices are going up on global markets. He listed a number of factors for this steadily growth of food prices including bad weather in cereals producing countries, the ban imposed by some countries on food exports and the increasing use of cereals to producing bio-fuel. The world food stocks drop had also negatively impacted food prices, he added. Beijan went on to say that, "as the recent World Bank report forecasted new food price rises, major world countries ought to agree on a charter to subsidize agricultural sectors all over the world to help increase production and curb price rises". In its "Food Price Watch" report, the World Bank forecasted 36 percent-rise in food prices to remain close to the 2008 peak. From : Kuwait News Agency