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Protest in India and Malaysia as fuel prices raised
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-05 16:26 NEW DELHI -- India and Malaysia raised gasoline prices Thursday, with the two Asian countries citing soaring oil costs as they struggle under the growing burden of subsidies for the motor fuel. Prices in Malaysia rose a dramatic 40 percent. The price hike in India, the second this year, was smaller, about 11 percent in New Delhi, the capital, but will still weigh on consumers. India also raised prices on diesel fuel and cooking gas. In Malaysia, long lines of vehicles formed at gasoline stations overnight to fill up before midnight when the new pricing came into effect, and brawls broke out as some motorists tried to jump the queue. On Thursday, gas stations were mostly deserted. Small groups of opposition workers staged protests in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Generally the public mood in Malaysia was one of resignation. Most people seemed to accept that they could no longer enjoy the hefty subsidies that had kept fuel prices here among the lowest in Southeast Asia. "If we don't increase the fuel price now, the economy will go down," said Chong Wai Ket, a 29-year-old shopkeeper in Kuala Lumpur. The hikes will help state-run oil companies, which have been unable to pass on to consumers the higher fuel costs due to price controls. Government coffers have been declining as crude oil prices have doubled over the last year, spiking above US$135 a barrel last month before falling back below US$121 a barrel Thursday. At the current level of oil prices, India's government-owned oil companies were projected to collectively lose US$58.4 billion this fiscal year through March 2009, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said Wednesday. |
