Al-Watan newspaper

THE Saudi market is one of the largest in the Middle East in volume of sales. Traders make huge gains (I am not being jealous) due to various factors, including monopoly and the absence of real consumer protection.

Social media and e-commerce websites revealed the greed of traders and monopolists who sought nothing but profits despite little taxation in the Kingdom, compared to other countries of the world.

For example, figures show that the automobile spare parts market in the Kingdom is the fifth largest worldwide for the US manufacturers. The Japanese industry accounts for 35 percent of the Saudi spare parts market. With the apparent stagnation in global and domestic car sales, the sharks in the market raised the prices of spare parts by up to 500 percent. Of course, as always excuses exist, and the justifications range from the fluctuation of the Japanese yen to the sudden increase in the value euro, which are exaggerations that exist in the imagination of traders. Add to that the tornadoes that pull out car batteries and uproot rubber trees, which are the source of raw material for making car tires mixed with rose water.

Apart from the brake pads, oil and grease, the prices of meals have increased exponentially in Saudi restaurants over the last 10 years. We have become aware that tuna has been transformed into caviar and grilled chicken with Bukhari rice has become the preferred dish of Hollywood stars. I will not discuss rentals in the Saudi real estate market because this type of talk is a major cause of diabetes, hypertension and all types of strokes. Property prices in this desert country comparable to prices of land and real estate in London, Paris, New York and perhaps Honolulu. Trying to rent an apartment in the north of Riyadh or Jeddah is an unhealthy luxury and puts you in the ranks of demons.

The General Authority of Statistics revealed that the inflation rate in Saudi Arabia recorded a decline of 0.07 percent in February 2017, compared to the same month in 2016. I am not an economic analyst or an expert in the International Monetary Fund, but I sympathize with the situation of the citizen who works hard for a living. It reminds me of the fat piece of meat sought by a flock of hungry wolves.

I hope our writers, litterateurs, thinkers and religious scholars would save their fights and quarrels about the mythical creature called “woman» and collectively focus on the greed of traders before the shawarma and a cup of team become a luxury in our country.