AN OFFICIAL SOURCE OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DESCRIBED RECENT MEDIA REPORTS ON FOODSTUFFS PRICE HIKES IN THE KINGDOM AS EXAGGERATED. IN A STATEMENT, HE ALSO SAID WHAT HAS BEEN CIRCULATED IN THE MEDIA THAT THE MINISTRY WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE MARKET AS BASELESS. HE ADDED THAT IT IS SUCCESSFULLY PLAYING ITS ROLE IN MONITORING THE MARKET, NOTING THAT THE MINISTRY'S ROLE WAS WELL DONE IN A FREE MARKET COUNTRY. HE SAID MOST OF THE PRICES OF FOODSTUFFS IN SAUDI ARABIA WERE STABLE WHILE FEW WERE FLUCTUATING OR INCREASING. HE ATTRIBUTED THE INCREASE OF SOME ITEMS TO FOREIGN CONSIDERATIONS AS MOST OF FOODSTUFFS CONSUMED IN THE KINGDOM WERE IMPORTED. THE SOURCE GAVE DETAILED FIGURES SHOWING A STABLE FOODSTUFFS MARKET ALL OVER THIS YEAR, WITH SLIGHT INCREASES OF FEW COMMODITIES.