Government Sets Date for Fuel Rate Increase
From Times Wire Reports
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would raise fuel prices starting Saturday, a sensitive step that risks setting off protests.
Government subsidies have long kept fuel affordable for millions of poor in the world’s fourth most-populous nation, but are severely straining the national budget.
Yudhoyono did not say how much the increase would be. His ministers have said prices could soar 50%. The government plans to give small cash handouts to about 15 million poor families to cushion the blow.
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