Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com
Posted in:
Editorials
Written By: Staff Editor
Article Date: Sep 22, 2007 - 12:34:58 PM
As any consumer can tell you, Yemen has been suffering from sharp price rises, which are all the more painful during the Holy month of Ramadan, when the need to celebrate and invite guests places an extra strain on family budgets.
This phenomenon is not unique to Yemen. Commodity prices have been rising on world markets due to increased demand from East Asia, driving up the price of goods such as wheat globally. But the prices in Yemen have been rising faster than the prices on world markets have, and citizens have to ask themselves why.
Much blame has been laid at the door of the big merchants, who have been accused of greed and of holding back supplies in the hope of making fat profits – an easy affair when we recently saw the price of grain rise by 40 percent in one week. And undoubtedly, part of sudden price rise was caused by panic buying, so consumers would do well to keep their heads and not contribute to inflation by hoarding wheat.
But most of the blame is surely due to the government, who created this system of semi-monopolies in the first place.
Therefore the Yemen Observer welcomes the news that foreign firms will be allowed to export grain directly to Yemeni consumers, without the need for a middleman.
Some voices have been heard to say that if foreign firms are allowed to enter the Yemeni market, they will eventually gain control by putting Yemeni companies out of business. But the Yemen Observer takes the view that if these companies have only been surviving by cheating the consumer, and cannot deal with honest competition; going out of business is nothing more than what they deserve.
The main benefi ciary of dismantling these monopolies will be the long-suffering Yemeni consumer, who has so far borne patiently prices for basic necessities ranging from flour and cooking oil to propane gas. This is a step which can only benefit the Yemeni people