Oman moves to curb commodity price hikes

Oman's government will ban increases in the prices of commodities and services unless suppliers can justify the hikes, the state news agency reported.The decision implies that the supplier may not raise the price of a commodity or service unless he gets approval from the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), ONA said, quoting PACP's chairman Said al-Kaabi.It did not elaborate on when the decision will take effect.The new law would allow the supplier to submit an application to increase the price of a commodity or service to the PACP, but they will also be required to give reasons to justify the price hike. Annual inflation in the Gulf Arab sultanate slowed to 4 percent in June from a two-year high of 4.4 percent in May.Oman's measure follows steps by the UAE to combat rising global commodity prices by fixing the cost of about 400 foodstuffs and household products at 70 outlets this year.The small non-OPEC oil producer, which faced several public protests this year demanding more jobs and an end to corruption, announced $2.6bn in spending in April and promised to create 50,000 new jobs, among other measures. A senior central bank official said this week that Oman's economy was expected to grow by 5 percent in real terms this year and inflation was likely to remain between 4 and 5 percent. Data on Tuesday showed Oman's economy grew by a faster 15.3 percent in the first three months of this year thanks to robust oil prices. From / Arabian Business News