Saudi Arabia: Competition Law Aims to Combat Monopolistic Practices

Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
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Saudi Arabia: Competition Law Aims to Combat Monopolistic Practices

Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)

The regulations of the Saudi Competition Law have revealed that it aims to protect and promote fair competition and combat monopolistic practices that affect legal competition and the consumer’s interest.

The regulations guarantee that the services and goods' prices conform to the market rules and free competition concepts.

The law bans the practices – including agreements and deals between establishments – whether written or oral, if the purpose behind them is to harm competition, especially in terms of determining prices of goods, services fees, conditions of selling and purchasing, limiting the inflow of services and products, etc.

The law also forbids any attitude that hinders the entry of an establishment into the market, pushes an establishment out of the market, blocks available products or services wholly or partially from a specific establishment. It also prevents dividing markets for the sake of selling or buying services and products.

Article six of the law includes prohibiting any establishment that dominates the market or part of it from abusing its power to breach or limit competition.

The law bars setting conditions on an establishment to abstain from dealing with another and suspend the selling of a service or product in return for an obligation or services that are not related to the original contract.

The law called on establishments wishing to join the economic concentration to notify the General Authority for Competition at least 90 days before completion in case the annual sales of the establishment surpasses a limit specified by the list.



Egyptian Inflation Climbs to 13.9% in April

 Cotton candy vendors walk during a dusty weather, before expected sandstorm, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP)
Cotton candy vendors walk during a dusty weather, before expected sandstorm, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP)
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Egyptian Inflation Climbs to 13.9% in April

 Cotton candy vendors walk during a dusty weather, before expected sandstorm, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP)
Cotton candy vendors walk during a dusty weather, before expected sandstorm, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP)

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation accelerated to 13.9% in April from 13.6% in March, matching analyst expectations, data from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Saturday.

Month on month, prices were 1.5% higher at the end of April than at end-March. Food and beverage prices decelerated by 1.5%. Annually, food and beverage prices rose by 6.0%.

The median forecast of analysts polled by Reuters was for annual inflation to have climbed to 13.9%. They cited an increase in the official price of fuel as the main cause.

Inflation soared following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which prompted foreign investors to withdraw billions of dollars from Egyptian treasuries. Headline inflation rose by a record 38.0% in September 2023.

M2 money supply expanded in the year to end-March, but at a slower rate, dropping to 25.8% from an all-time high of 33.9% at the end of February, central bank data showed.

Egypt devalued its currency, raised interest rates by 600 basis points and signed an $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund in March last year, helping to bring its finances under control.