Jordan to increase fuel, bread prices; Sudanese protest
AMMAN/KHARTOUM: Jordan is to increase the price of fuel and bread as it seeks tax revenues to redress a debt-riddled economy rattled by the war in neighboring Syria, press reports said yesterday. The latest tax hikes come as resource-poor Jordan faces a public debt of some $35 billion, equivalent to 90 percent of its gross domestic product. Tax on fuel is to increase from 24 to 30 percent, Jordanian newspapers reported the government as deciding on Monday. And the price of bread is to double from next month, they also reported.
The tax on fizzy drinks is to jump from 10 to 20 percent and cigarettes are to cost 0.20 Jordanian dinar ($0.28) more per pack than previously. A valueadded tax of five percent will also be imposed on jewelry. The government, which hopes to increase tax revenues by $761 million, also pledged “financial aid” to struggling families affected by the price hikes. Last year, price hikes on an array of goods and services sparked protests in which demonstrators called for the cabinet to resign.
They came after new sales taxes on Internet and mobile use, bread, domestic fuel and petrol, cigarettes and fizzy drinks. In 2016, Jordan secured a $723 million three-year credit line from the International Monetary Fund to support economic and financial reforms. Jordan’s economy has been rattled by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and the country has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees from its neighbors, stretching its meager resources. Some 680,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan since the start of the conflict in their home country in 2011, the UN refugee agency says. Jordan says it hosts 1.3 million Syrians. Jordan says the Syrian crisis has cost it more than $10 billion over the past five years.
Separately, anti-riot police fired tear gas and beat protesters with batons yesterday as hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated against soaring bread prices near a presidential palace in Khartoum, an AFP correspondent said. Bread prices have more than doubled after a jump in the cost of flour due to dwindling wheat supplies, after the government decided to stop importing grain and allow private companies to do so. The protest was the biggest in Khartoum since demonstrations erupted in some parts of the country earlier this month following the price increase.
Yesterday, hundreds of protesters poured into the streets near a presidential palace in central Khartoum after the opposition Communist Party of Sudan called for an anti-government rally. “No, no to hunger! No, no to high prices!” protesters shouted near the palace. Police fired tear gas and hit protesters with batons as they tried to break up the protest. A senior leader from the Communist Party, Siddig Yousif, was detained along with several protesters, the correspondent reported.
The Communist Party had sought permission from the authorities last week to hold yesterday’s rally but it had been denied. “Today is an important day for Sudan as it is the start of widespread protests,” a demonstrator told
AFP on condition of anonymity. “We were demonstrating peacefully but still the police beat us. This shows that the regime will not tolerate even peaceful protests.”
Pictures and videos of yesterday’s protests were widely uploaded on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. Later yesterday, police dispersed the rally near the palace but protesters staged small demonstrations in nearby streets as they were chased away. “Lot of people watched us as we protested. I’m sure they will join us next time,” the protester said.
The Communist Party said its members will continue to mobilize people and hold night-time demonstrations, while the country’s main opposition Umma Party called for an anti-government demonstration today. On Monday last week, students also rallied against the rising prices near Khartoum University but police swiftly broke up the protest. The day before, in the town of Geneina in the war-torn region of Darfur, a student was killed during a similar protest. It was unclear how he was killed. — AFP