The government decided to roll back the petroleum price hike following angry street protests Wednesday.
An informal meeting of the Council of Ministers held in Singha Durbar in the afternoon directed the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to revoke the hike in the price of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.
Emerging from the meeting, Industry, Commerce and Supplies minister Shyam Sundar Gupta said the government has decided to roll back the price hike taking into account the problems caused by it to ordinary citizens.
He said that the Finance Ministry would make necessary arrangements for recovering the NOC’s losses.
Citing its growing losses and the rise in crude oil prices in the international market, the NOC had on Monday increased the price of diesel to Rs 61 per liter from Rs 56, LP gas Rs 1,250 per cylinder from Rs 1100 and kerosene to 61 per litre from Rs 51.
Student organisations and ordinary citizens took to the street against the price hike from early next morning. Demonstrations continued around the country today as well while the capital Kathmandu remained shut due to the shutdown strike called by CPN (Unified).
With the withdrawal of the price hike, Kathmandu Valley has slowly returned to normalcy. Student organizations held a victory rally celebrating the price hike roll back. Vehicles have started plying on Kathmandu’s roads that have been littered with bricks and stones thrown by the protesters. Reports said other major towns like Pokhara, Butwal, Biratnagar, Chitwan have also returned to normalcy. nepalnews.com mk Jan 23 08
