Citizens Brace for More Hardships New Price Hikes [Archives:1998/14/Front Page]

The Government is planning a new phase of subsidy removal. This is part of the economic reform program, which calls for correcting price distortions in factor costs and the prices of goods and services.
On April 1st, 1998, the price of air travel was increased by 60%. The fares of Yemen Airways are now more reflective of its costs. But that is not a source of much worry, as the poor hardly ever travel, and when they do so, they don’t travel by air.
The more ominous rise will be in the price of wheat and flour. The prices will rise by 40%. This would have gone into effect on April 1st, but the authorities decided to “let the people have a decent eid holidays”. The changes in prices will take effect starting from after the eid.
The new cost of living burden will hurt more the vulnerable members of society. Efforts within the social safety net program are underway to help in this regard.

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