AMMAN — The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply said Wednesday it is looking into a request by the
Jordanian Union of Restaurants and Confectionery Proprietors (JURCP) to allow tax-exempt affordable eateries to raise their prices by five to 10 percent, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
The ministry added that any decision in this regard will ensure the interests of both the restaurants and consumers, indicating that it will decide on the issue soon.
The JURCP said the
COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns and closures forced thousands of affordable restaurants to close down or placed themselves under a taxed restaurant category in order to charge higher prices.
Restaurants that are subject to the 16-percent general sales tax are not bound by any pricing ceiling, unlike tax exempt restaurants which follow prices set by the association.
JURCP president, Omar Al-Awwad, said 2,000 restaurants were forced to shut down over the past period and that 15 percent of the 20,000 restaurants that were in the market before the COVID-19 pandemic changed their tax status to the taxable category.
A five to 10 percent price hike is a fair demand according to Awwad, who said that the affordable eateries are under a huge burden that threatens their continuity. He said the sector incurred losses in the millions and were forced to lay off thousands of employees.
The popular/affordable/tax exempt restaurants and confectionaries sector employs more than 350,000 people, but 50 percent of them are foreigners, according to Awwad.
He said that the price hike demanded by the union will not significantly increase the price of these restaurants, and that the
Ministry of Industry and Trade should look at the demands as a way to save the sector, especially after a significant rise in operating costs.
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