June 05, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1429

NEW DELHI, June 4: India’s government on Wednesday boosted fuel prices for the second time in a year to stem huge losses at state-run oil firms, stirring widespread political anger and worries about higher inflation.

The government’s communist allies announced plans for a week of protests while the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the hikes “economic terror.”

India, which imports 70 per cent of its oil needs to feed its fast-growing economy but is faced with surging global crude costs, raised petrol prices by Rs5 (12 cents) a litre and diesel by Rs3.

The increases were much higher than rises announced in February but not enough to compensate for the climb in global fuel costs. “What the government has done, given the magnitude of the crisis, is not enough but is the maximum it could do in the current political context,” said T.K. Bhaumik, economic adviser to a business lobby.—AFP