Average consumer will face more budget strains

Dubai: Consumers will need to further tighten their grocery budget as rice and pulses in the UAE are expected to become more expensive in the next few weeks because of a ban on their exports by India and Pakistan.

However, at present, the prices of these items remain stable in the major hypermarkets.

"There is no shortage of rice in the market as we still have enough stocks," Kamal Vachani, director of Al Maya Group, said.

"Due to the ban we need to fast-track our imports of rice from our existing supplying countries. We will import more rice from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other rice exporting countries."

The possible price hike will have a major impact on the monthly budget of average consumers living in the country, analysts say.

"The increase will be an additional burden for us consumers. We will have to increase our monthly grocery budget again and some of the other expenditure will be affected," said Jeffrey Nabua, a Filipino project engineer.

Consumers will have to take advantage of the current stability in prices.

At Carrefour in Abu Dhabi, 10 kg of basmati rice (Indian Gate) sourced from India remain at Dh80, while the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society offers the same product for Dh86.

Branded basmati rice like Tilda, also imported from India, remains Dh64 per five-kg bag in the Sharjah Cooperative Society.

Other rates of basic commodities in the rest of the stores covered by the ministry's weekly survey were not available.

According to Indian media, the Indian government is considering extending the ban on the export of cheaper versions of basmati rise, which is expected to push the price of basmati rise up further.

The MoE collected prices last Monday covering around 40 essential commodities.