ID :
183717
Mon, 05/23/2011 - 05:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/183717
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S. Korea mulling price hikes for major public services: officials
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea is considering price hikes for public services as part of efforts to ease the financial burden of public firms suffering from increased production costs due to rising raw material prices, officials said Monday.
The government could raise electricity bills, among other things, by up to 16 percent in July after a long delay in price hikes to better reflect sky-high crude oil prices, they added.
"We are in talks to draw up a road map for rationalizing prices of electricity," a high-ranking government official said. "Including that, we are looking into 11 public services for possible price increases."
The public services under review also include heating gas, mail, public transportation and communications bills that need state approval for price hikes, officials said.
The government is currently in talks with related ministries, agencies and public companies on when and how much it will raise their prices, though it has yet to decide its exact timetable, they noted.
The move would come after the government has asked for public enterprises to freeze service fees in a bid to ease the nation's fast-growing inflationary pressure.
Last month, South Korea's consumer prices jumped 4.2 percent from a year earlier, much higher than the government's annual inflation target of 3 percent.
Such price freezes on services, however, are denting business for many public companies, which face increasing production costs due to soaring prices for crude oil and other raw materials.
Demand has been mounting that prices should be "rationalized" by reflecting reality to help reduce the ballooning deficit confronting many public companies.
The government could raise electricity bills, among other things, by up to 16 percent in July after a long delay in price hikes to better reflect sky-high crude oil prices, they added.
"We are in talks to draw up a road map for rationalizing prices of electricity," a high-ranking government official said. "Including that, we are looking into 11 public services for possible price increases."
The public services under review also include heating gas, mail, public transportation and communications bills that need state approval for price hikes, officials said.
The government is currently in talks with related ministries, agencies and public companies on when and how much it will raise their prices, though it has yet to decide its exact timetable, they noted.
The move would come after the government has asked for public enterprises to freeze service fees in a bid to ease the nation's fast-growing inflationary pressure.
Last month, South Korea's consumer prices jumped 4.2 percent from a year earlier, much higher than the government's annual inflation target of 3 percent.
Such price freezes on services, however, are denting business for many public companies, which face increasing production costs due to soaring prices for crude oil and other raw materials.
Demand has been mounting that prices should be "rationalized" by reflecting reality to help reduce the ballooning deficit confronting many public companies.
