In 2007, Saudi Arabia witnessed a remarkable rise in food prices which led to an increase in the cost of most essential products which constituted a real burden for the Kingdom's families, especially those of the middle class. Economic experts attributed this increase in prices to the astronomical increase in the price of oil which in 2008 jumped to $148 a barrel. Later that year, the global financial crisis brought the oil price crashing down to Earth, and it has since risen gradually and is now around $80 a barrel. Economist Rashed Al-Fawzan said that another reason for the increase in the price of food is the weak dollar resulting from the weakness of the American economy, pointing out that any weakness in the dollar increases the rate of exchange of the other currencies including the euro and Japanese yen. What has further compounded the problem is that many international firms and companies went bankrupt as a result of the international financial crisis. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs, and it also led to the shrinkage of the supply of commodities in the market. Muhammad Bin Saddik Fala, a writer on economics, stressed that there is no link between price hikes and the Jeddah flood disaster. He urged consumers to adjust themselves to the high price of consumer products by searching for alternative commodities and resisting the faddish pressure to buy items with fashionable trademarks as well as items that one does not really need. He also called upon families to put in order their priorities by adjusting their demands to their incomes and budgets. Dr Muhammad Bin Abdul Kareem Al-Hamad, chairman of the Saudi Consumer Protection Society, said the Kingdom's economy is a free one governed by the economic principle of supply and demand. This gives merchants and importers the right to market their goods according to their import or manufacturing costs after adding freight, storage and distribution fees as well as a margin of profit. He said that this principle does not, however, give merchants a free hand to quench their greed for profit at the cost of consumers. He pointed out that consumers have the right to express their discontent at unjustifiable increases in the price of consumer products. He said the government represented by the Ministry of Commerce has effective mechanisms at its disposal to protect consumers from those who wish to tamper with prices.
