Families ready for Ramadan price discounts after introduction of VAT

Families have endured a more expensive few months after the introduction of VAT. Now they are looking forward to prices being slashed under a directive from the government.

The Ministry of Economy said the cost of more than 10,000 food items will be cut by between 25 and 50 per cent in about 600 outlets across the country before Ramadan starts.

“The discount will give the opportunity for many people to buy what they need in Ramadan, as so many can’t afford to buy as much as we’d like since VAT came in,” said Hanan Wehbe, 35, a Palestinian mother of three living in Abu Dhabi.

Ms Wehbe has a budget of about Dh1,700 a month to spend on groceries.

“We buy the meat and poultry once in the month, divide it into smaller portions and freeze them for the whole month,” she said. “We can’t spend more than Dh1,700 a month so we had to cut the expenses after VAT came in, and we’ll stick to the same amount during the whole month.”

Salimah Al Yamahi, 36, an Emirati mother of five, said that Ramadan can be an expensive time when friends and family must be entertained. “A discount on food products will definitely help as we cook different meals every day,” said Ms Al Yamahi, from Fujairah.

“Ramadan needs a special budget. We spend around Dh3,500 on food each month and that amount will double during Ramadan.”

Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, director of consumer protection at the ministry, said it made arrangements with major outlets and co-operatives to ensure staple goods are affordable.

Dr Al Nuaimi said retailers would also offer popular “Ramadan baskets”, which are affordable packages of essential goods sold at set prices.

The baskets include dates, nuts, sweets, cream, custard powder and rose water.

CK Mugundan, manager of an Al Manama supermarket in Fujairah, said most products would be discounted from the end of the month.

“More than 60 per cent of food products that we offer at our store will be reduced and that will include rice, cooking oil and frozen products,” Mr Mugundan said.

“All discounted items will be available in the store by the end of this month to allow people to prepare for Ramadan, within this month’s salary. Last year we sold more than 300 Ramadan baskets, and this year we expect the same number and maybe more.”

One of the baskets will be sealed and contain 20 discounted items for Dh100.

The other will be mix and match, allowing customers to choose from 300 to 400 discounted products.

Ministry of Economy said the cost of more than 10,000 food products would be cut by 25% to 50% in about 600 outlets