Inflation fuels protest over petrol prices
More than 200 factory workers gathered at Freedom Park near Wat Phnom yesterday to urge the government to cut taxes on petrol, saying fuel prices were driving food prices beyond what they could afford. But the government is doing all it can to curb inflation and has no control over oil prices, a government spokesman said. Sath Chheanghour, president of the Cambodian National Confederation of Labourers’ Protection, said workers and motorcycle taxi drivers were being hard hit by inflation and were struggling to feed themselves and their families. He called on the government to halve its import tax on petrol from 1,000 riel (US$0.24) to 500 riel a litre.
