Prices of essential items going up

Dubai: The prices of basic essentials in Dubai and Abu Dhabi supermarkets have gone up in the past two months.

Click here to see the prices of select commodities (pdf)

A study of price basket figures released by the UAE Ministry of Economy showed that the cost of carrots, rice, flour and meat products have increased since April. Carrefour Dubai jacked up the price of carrots imported from Australia from Dh1.95 in April to Dh3.95, the most expensive, this month.

LuLu Centre, which was the constant price buster in previous surveys, raised the price of India-supplied rice (Tilda) from Dh11.60 to Dh12.90 per two kilos. Union Cooperative Society marked up the price for the same item by 10 fils, from Dh13.20 to Dh13.30.

The price of chilled mutton meat sourced from Australia increased from Dh14.90 to Dh19.90 per kilo in Carrefour Abu Dhabi and from Dh23 to Dh25 in Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society.

For shoppers eyeing the cheapest store, Union Cooperative Society in Dubai emerged as the clear winner, offering lowest prices for 22 of the 42 commodities in this week's survey.

LuLu Centre, which topped past surveys, offered only 14 items with the cheapest price, while Carrefour Dubai had six.

However, Union Cooperative Society did well only in the not-so essential products. In the essential items category, LuLu Centre had the edge with the cheapest carrots, rice, flour, mineral water, fresh beef and whole chicken.