Petrol prices rise in line with IMF plan - radio

Angola’s state oil company Sonangol hiked petrol prices on Monday as part of an IMF programme to restructure its war-torn economy, church-run radio reported on Monday. The price of cooking gas also rose. The radio station said the hike was in line with a plan outlined in an IMF agreement that was first signed a year ago to last for eight months. It was extended last November until June 2001. The hike is partly designed to gradually remove state subsidies. Angola produces 750,000 barrels a day of crude, but has pumped massive amounts of money into subsidies that keep petrol prices artificially low. The last hike a year ago resulted in street protests that were initially stopped by the government. It later gave permission for the protesters to stage demonstrations, but they soon fizzled out. Fares for mini-bus taxis, the most common method of transport in a city overcrowded with people are expected to rise with the petrol price hike.