High prices exhaust purchasing power of limited income Consumers to YT: Tradesmen target our income prior to sales tax [Archives:2005/833/Business & Economy]
Consumers and entrepreneurs have described prices hikes of food goods and construction materials as part of a premeditated organized campaign led by some merchants, and those who already raised prices. Some tradesmen have raised prices of foodstuffs and construction materials by rates ranging between 10-30% under pretext that the new sales tax law would cause the rise of taxes on them by 10%, although the law stipulates tax exempts for around 27 commodities and necessary materials related to consumer needs.
Specialists are unanimous that activity of tradesmen mafia hampers quality of national products and industrial development in Yemen. Challenges facing national industry are no longer a problem related to industrialists. They need a big effort to fight this mafia specialized in smuggling and absorption of profits from Yemeni market in return for decayed and low-quality commodities with low prices and specifications, a matter leading to attract consumers to them at the expense of the national products.
A consumer citizen from al-Hasaba market says the rise in prices of consumer and supplies goods has stolen joy from our children's mouths. He adds the government has decided to enforce the new sales tax law in July and exempted 27 groups of essential commodities from the tax, saying the big merchants are the ones meant by the law. However, what is happening is that retail merchants have raised prices by 10% claiming that the new prices are to face the sales tax only.
Those specialised in smuggling mafia do not believe in specifications and standardisation nor observe in human conscience in their businesses and are always challenging all laws and regulations in the country by flooding the market with smuggled commodities. They add that retail merchants have exploited the talk about the sales tax and increased prices.
A merchant says that the increase in prices is a result of fears resulting in the future implementation of the sales tax, adding it is the right of retail merchants to prepare themselves for bearing consequences of what may result from sales after the sales tax is enforced.
On the other hand, a consumer citizen responds that sales tax is still not implemented and merchants began imposing spiral prices on their own, giving an example of the increase on cement prices that rose from 800 riyals to 1100 riyals.
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