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Mozambique Scraps Price Hikes

   Government says it will reverse price increases for bread, electricity
   and water that sparked deadly rioting and protests

   VOA News 07 September 2010
   Tires  burn in a street in Maputo, Mozambique after police opened fire
   on  stone-throwing  crowds  who  were protesting rising prices in this
   impoverished country, 01 Sept 2010

Photo: AP

   Tires  burn in a street in Maputo, Mozambique after police opened fire
   on  stone-throwing  crowds  who  were protesting rising prices in this
   impoverished country, 01 Sept 2010

   Mozambique's  government  says  it  will  reverse  price increases for
   bread, electricity and water that sparked deadly rioting and protests.
   Planning  Minister  Aiuba  Cuereneia  said Tuesday the government will
   introduce subsidies to allow the price of bread to come back down.
   He  said  it  will withdraw the price increase on water and scale back
   the increase on electricity.
   The minister also said the government will introduce several austerity
   measures,  including freezing salaries and reducing travel budgets for
   senior officials.
   The  government  had said last week the increases were "irreversible,"
   because they stemmed from rising prices worldwide.
   Three  days  of  riots  and demonstrations across Mozambique last week
   killed 13 people and injured more than 600 others.
   Police fired live bullets at protesters after some demonstrators threw
   stones and blocked streets with burning tires.
   Authorities  have arrested more than 280 people in connection with the
   unrest, including at least six people who allegedly sent text messages
   inciting protests.
   Police say 66 stores were looted during the protests.
   Despite  a high growth rate in recent years, Mozambique remains one of
   the  world's  poorest  countries.   Per capita annual income is about
   $900, one of the lowest levels in Africa.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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