Malaysia and India Increase Price of Subsidized Fuel
By PETER GELLING
June 5, 2008
India and Malaysia risked the wrath of voters by raising the price of subsidized fuel, measures that could further weaken the governments of both countries, already made fragile by recent electoral setbacks.
In India, the increase was quickly condemned by political parties from all sides, two of which promised demonstrations. A Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman called the move the equivalent of “economic terrorism.???
Economists and policy makers described the increase as painful but necessary. Fuel subsidies in Malaysia alone would have totaled $17 billion this year.
Consumers in Malaysia, like the woman above, will see gasoline prices go up by 40 percent, and more increases are planned, said Shahrir Abdul Samad, Malaysia’s domestic trade and consumer affairs minister. Gas prices vary across India, but the announcement amounted to an increase of around 10 percent.
By PETER GELLING
June 5, 2008
India and Malaysia risked the wrath of voters by raising the price of subsidized fuel, measures that could further weaken the governments of both countries, already made fragile by recent electoral setbacks.
In India, the increase was quickly condemned by political parties from all sides, two of which promised demonstrations. A Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman called the move the equivalent of “economic terrorism.???
Economists and policy makers described the increase as painful but necessary. Fuel subsidies in Malaysia alone would have totaled $17 billion this year.
Consumers in Malaysia, like the woman above, will see gasoline prices go up by 40 percent, and more increases are planned, said Shahrir Abdul Samad, Malaysia’s domestic trade and consumer affairs minister. Gas prices vary across India, but the announcement amounted to an increase of around 10 percent.
