WAM Abu Dhabi, May 30th, 2012 (WAM) -- President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered giving "Ramadan Ration" project a permanent status thereof subsidizing food items throughout the year as part of his keenness to alleviate the financial burden on citizens and making available goods and food items at subsidized prices.

The president has directed the Khalifa Bin Zayed Humanitarian Foundation (KZHF) to begin the implementation of this project with effect from first of June.

KZHF official source said that President Khalifa has directed them to expand the subsidization project to include new food items in addition to the rice and flour, which have already been sold to citizens at subsidized prices since long.

The source explained that in implementation of the President's directives, KZHF has conducted an extensive study on "Ramadan Ration" project implemented on yearly basis. According to the study, the project will be replaced by another larger project to increase the number of citizen's for subsidized goods sold at prices less than the cost price throughout the year.

He added that the citizens will be able to save around AED 13000 per annum after new subsidized goods project is implemented instead of AED 1500 they use to save previously.

He pointed out that the project will be implemented in June 2012 so that the subsidized items will be sold for all citizens of the state across the country throughout the year.

These items include "Dates, cooking oils, juices, various types of water and tomato paste" in addition to rice and flour.

WAM/ES/AM