Opinion | Editorials
How to stop the pace of price rises
Perhaps it is time to make major changes in the country's monetary policy.
- Gulf News
- Published: 23:49 August 10, 2008
Prices of basic commodities climbed 12.43 per cent in Abu Dhabi in July within the span of just a month, according to Abu Dhabi's Department of Planning and Economy.
This translates to nearly a 150 per cent increase in a year! The question is: Can this country's growing population live with this type of skyrocketing rise in prices of basic commodities?
The fixed exchange rate of the UAE's currency to the falling US dollar is also adding to this problem. This is happening when the country is getting ready for Ramadan, when prices traditionally go up substantially.
While the government has undertaken certain measures to curb prices and inflation, statistics show that these measures aren't enough. The problems remain. Perhaps it's time to shift to Plan B, which is to make major changes to the country's monetary policy. But is the country ready for it?
Opinion Editor's choice
-
Russia, China complicit in Syria carnage
By Fawaz Turki, Special to Gulf News
By their double veto at the UN, they have chosen to back the Al Assad regime that is already wet spaghetti
-
Two prime ministers in trouble
By Kuldip Nayar, Special to Gulf News
Gilani faces contempt of court charge while Singh encounters moral responsibility in 2G scam case
-
Moving towards honest democracy
By Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia
Russia needs to unbundle power and property and separate executive power from system of checks over it
Your turn
