Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has reassured Qatar residents on food supply and prices. MEC said that there is no need to worry as there is surplus stock of major food products and prices will be stable as most of them are at fixed rates.

Just before Ramadan started food prices of more than 400 products were reduced and prices of over 50,000 items were freezed and anyone flouting this rule will face strict punishment, the ministry had said at that time.

The Ministry in its social media post also said that “import of all food and consumer goods continues from different sources and countries.”

A main worry of people is about the products which comes through the land route and to which ministry clarified that a “vast majority of goods are imported by Qatar through air and sea ports.”

This is true for meat as most livestock comes through sea from Australia and a good percentage of vegetables come from India and Bangladesh by air.

Yesterday evening some social media posts created panic among residents and most supermarkets saw panic buying by people. Customers were hoarding up rice, pulses, oil, meat and other such food products. Most of these products are sourced directly from countries through air and ship route and there is no need for panic as today morning supermarkets were back to normal with stocked-up shelves.

Below is the translation of replies in Arabic published by the Ministry on their social media platforms to some of the queries of Qatar residents.

Will Qatari market be affected by the diplomatic crisis and closing of land borders?
- Will not be affected as there is strategic stock of major food commodities.
- The import continues naturally for all food and consumer goods from different sources and countries.

Is there an emergency plan set by the government to deal with such crises?
- There is a plan that is activated in such cases to ensure that the state is not affected by any shortage.
- There is a surplus of food and consumer goods in the market.

There are some goods imported by Qatar by land, will those good be affected by this? Will the market face shortages in these commodities?
- The market will not be affected because vast majority of goods are imported by the state from air and sea ports.
- There is full coordination with all suppliers to continue import normally and there are alternative plans to face any shortage of goods.

Will commodity prices be affected by recent developments in the region?
- Prices are stable and will not be affected specifically with the fixing of prices of lots of food and consumer goods.
- Any change in prices will be done in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
- There will be no impact on anyone living in Qatar and we confirm that the market situation is normal. (Source)

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