 |
||
| Amid rising global prices for crude, China increased the benchmark retail price of gasoline and diesel fuel. | ||
China increased the benchmark retail price of gasoline and diesel fuel Tuesday amid rising global prices for crude.
The hikes, taking effect from midnight Tuesday, boost the prices that suppliers charge retailers for gasoline by 290 yuan ($42) per metric ton and diesel by 180 yuan ($26) per metric ton.
Beijing had been using its system of government-set energy prices to shield its citizens from surging global crude prices, although the government has sought to make the system more flexible and responsive to international price shifts.
Restraints on price increases had forced state-owned oil companies to absorb losses as crude costs soared. Prices were gradually raised to curb soaring consumption, but Beijing worried about the impact on the poor.
On Jan. 14, the price of gasoline was cut by 140 yuan per metric ton, a 2 percent change, and diesel by 160 yuan per metric ton, a drop of 3.2 percent.
Global oil prices eased Tuesday but stayed near $53 a barrel on hopes that the U.S. government's move to purge ailing banks of up to $1 trillion of shaky assets could speed up economic recovery. A weakening dollar and strong U.S. home sales as a reflection of an uptick in the economy also continued to support oil prices.
(AP)
