Cairo: Preparations of Ramadan commences in Cairo; stores in Saudi Arabia reported a sudden rise in their food, spices and coffee ahead of the upcoming Ramadan.

The price of the spices increased by 5 to 6 percent. However, the price of coffee rose by 30 percent directly; as per the reports of stores, traditionally, coffee is a widely famous drink in Saudi Arabia, especially during Ramadan.

According to ‘Ali Hussain’ an employee at a spices shop, during the previous time in Ramadan, people used a lot of spices and bought them from the market, which raises the demand for spices due to which price increased, including those for soups.

Another unnamed vendor cited a 5 to 6 percent increase in the prices of several spices. He stated that prices of coffee which are used more during the time of Ramadan supply, have gone up by about 30 percent.

Ramadan is marked by family gatherings at the Iftar meal, which occurs at the end of the daily fasting period from dawn to dusk.

The Saudi Arabia Supreme Court has ordered the sighting of the Ramadan crescent on Friday evening, April 1, to determine the start of the lunar month.

According to astronomical calculations, Ramadan is due to begin on April 2 this year.

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Abdulfattah Mashat revealed that as per their estimation, nearly 400,000 pilgrims are expected to perform the Umrah during their holy fasting month of Ramadan, which is going to start from April early month.

This year Umrah is open for all, and there is no restriction to how many travellers will come from outside Saudi Arabia. The daily number will be examined according to the capacity at the Grand Mosque.

Kingdom gradually eased all the COVID-19 related restrictions; it is also expected that the number of Umrah pilgrims began to rise. It is now going to welcome hundreds of thousands of pilgrims per day.