The World - News from Dec. 1, 1985

Lebanon doubled fuel prices, a move that observers in Beirut feared could start a chain reaction of price increases in an economy already ravaged by a decade of intermittent civil strife. Finance Minister Camille Chamoun said the price rise is crucial to reduce government subsidies. “This deficit threatens to bankrupt the state and collapse the economy,” said Chamoun, a Christian former president, noting that the fuel subsidies create an annual deficit of $555 million.