Prices of basic food items in UAE remained stable or fell marginally this week, as retailers cut costs, according to the Ministry of Economy, a report said.

Items which saw lower prices in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi were rice, lemons from South Africa, fish and salmon from Norway, white flour, sliced white bread, unshelled pistachio nuts, Dettol antibacterial soap, Clorex, Lux hand-wash and facial tissues, according to the Gulf News report.

While red onions from India cost more, white sugar remained the same.

Shoppers have cut down their monthly budgets due to the higher prices of commodities in the past few months. So retailers have offered price cuts of around 30 percent during Ramadan. They have even come up with special `Ramadan food baskets'.