JEDDAH — The Ministry of Commerce and Investments has warned traders, businessmen and commercial establishments from increasing prices of commodities to compensate for the dependents' fees to be collected annually from expatriates on the pretext that these fees are part of the production cost.

"The ministry will not hesitate to control prices of essential commodities which directly touch on the lives of the consumers," the ministry's spokesman Abdul Hameed Al-Hussain has said according to local daily Al-Madina on Wednesday.

He said the ministry is monitoring prices all over the Kingdom to check any unjustified hikes.

"We compare the prices with other neighboring countries to analyze and review the changes and closely follow up any developments that may adversely affect the theory of supply and demand," he said.

The spokesman reiterated that the ministry closely watches the stability of prices with a view to creating honorable competition that will be in the favor of the consumer.

Al-Hussain said the ministry's inspectors conduct continuous field tours to make sure that all the commodities are available at reasonable prices.

He said the inspectors also check the commitment of the trading establishments to the rules and regulations including the system of fraud combating.

The spokesman recalled that the ministry had previously intervened to correct the prices of some vital commodities such as milk, steel and cement when they were raised without any logical justification.

"In normal circumstances, the commodity prices in the Kingdom are decided by the theory of supply and demand. The ministry is monitoring the market to make sure that these prices are stable," he said.

Al-Husain said all the trading establishments should place price tags on each commodity and to make sure that the offers they announce from time to time are real.

"We will not tolerate any fraudulent operations or cheating of the consumers," he said.