Sudan Increases Fuel Prices after Subsidies Removed

People get their car filled at a petrol station in Khartoum, Sudan. November 4, 2016. (Reuters)
People get their car filled at a petrol station in Khartoum, Sudan. November 4, 2016. (Reuters)
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Sudan Increases Fuel Prices after Subsidies Removed

People get their car filled at a petrol station in Khartoum, Sudan. November 4, 2016. (Reuters)
People get their car filled at a petrol station in Khartoum, Sudan. November 4, 2016. (Reuters)

Sudan has increased fuel prices for the first time since subsidies were removed, energy minister Jadein Ali Obeid said on Thursday.

The price of gasoline went up from 290 Sudanese pounds per liter to 320 pounds, while the price of diesel went up to 305 pounds per liter from 285, according to a Reuters witness.

Sudan has been implementing aggressive IMF-monitored reforms in the hopes of turning around its economy and attracting debt relief and renewed financing.

The reforms have been painful and annual inflation climbed to 363 percent in April.

Sudanese officials and the IMF have said the reforms, which included a sharp currency devaluation, would cause prices to rise and add to pressure on citizens.



Japan's Core Inflation Rate Slows in September

FILE PHOTO: Media members observe the stock quotation board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Media members observe the stock quotation board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
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Japan's Core Inflation Rate Slows in September

FILE PHOTO: Media members observe the stock quotation board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Media members observe the stock quotation board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

Japanese inflation slowed in September with prices up 2.4 percent on-year, not including volatile fresh food, official data showed Friday.
The core Consumer Price Index eased from 2.8 percent in August as the pace of increase in electricity and gas prices relented, the internal affairs ministry said.
Despite the slowdown, the rate remained above the Bank of Japan's two percent target, set over a decade ago as part of efforts to boost the stagnant economy, reported AFP.
The target has been surpassed every month since April 2022, although the bank has questioned to what extent that is down to temporary factors such as the Ukraine war.
"The resumption of electricity subsidies resulted in a plunge in headline inflation in September," said Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics.
Thieliant predicted a further deceleration of core inflation in October, but noted that the subsidies "should be phased out completely by December, which should lift inflation".
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates in March for the first time since 2007 and again in July, in initial steps towards normalizing its ultra-loose monetary policies.
New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said this month that the environment was not right for another interest rate increase.
After Ishiba took office in early October, perceptions that he favored hiking borrowing costs and the possibility that he could raise taxes triggered a surge in the yen and stock market volatility.
One dollar bought 150 yen on Friday morning after the Japanese currency weakened from levels around 149.35 the day before.
Excluding both fresh food and energy, Japanese prices rose 2.1 percent in September.
"We expect inflation excluding fresh food and energy to remain around two percent until early next year, when it should gradually fall below two percent," Thieliant said.
"Accordingly, we still expect the Bank of Japan to press ahead with another interest rate hike before year-end."