PM warns traders against ‘unjustified’ prices

""The Prime Minister says the government will strictly deal with “sole distributors” of commodities if they do not “review their prices to be reasonable'"""

HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani yesterday warned against “monopolistic malpractices” by traders, particularly car distributors, saying that they would face tough penalties.
Speaking at the fourth annual consultative meeting with the members of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Prime Minister said the government would strictly deal with “sole distributors” of commodities if they did not “review their prices to be either reasonable or cheaper than those in the neighbouring countries”.
“Traders should know that the current situation is not acceptable and we will not stand idle while monopolistic practices are misused,” he said.
“If traders did not cut their prices and reduce their margin of profits, the government will open the market for other distributors to end their monopoly.”
He stressed that the government would not tolerate any “unjustified rise in prices” of goods in the local market.
“I have clear instructions from HH the Emir that residents should be provided with commodities at reasonable prices. We are working with automobile distributors to review their prices since we have found out the some of the vehicles are being sold at about QR40,000 more than their prices in neighbouring countries. When the euro appreciated against other currencies, car prices in the local market had gone up; the euro has weakened considerably now but there has been no revision of prices,” he added.
“I advise all traders to reconsider their prices; even those who work in the vegetable and fruit market should review their prices,” he said.
Answering a question, he said the Qatar Investment Authority’s performance was in the “green zone” during the last year and the first quarter of 2010. However, he refused to give figures for Qatar’s sovereign fund, saying that “this is a state secret.”
The meeting was attended by HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, HE the Minister of State for Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani and HE the Minister of Economy and Finance Yousef Hussein Kamal.

Link:
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=364860...

***Do you think this warning would noticeably bring down the prices?***