FACTBOX-Asian nations raise fuel prices
May 28 (Reuters) - Taiwan raises fuel and power prices from Wednesday, making it the latest Asian nation to decide it can no longer afford to shield consumers from soaring world oil prices.
For a table of Asian retail fuel prices, click on: [ID:nSP211137]
Following are some recent actions taken by governments around the region.
* TAIWAN - Domestic prices of octane 92 unleaded gasoline, among the most commonly-used fuel grades, will rise 13 percent. Prices of premium diesel will be T$31.9 a litre, up from T$27.5, the government said.
[ID:nTP184695]
* SRI LANKA - Colombo raised kerosene, petrol and diesel prices by between 14 and 47 percent. The chairman of Sri Lanka's Ceylon Petroleum Corp. said the increases would allow the company merely to halve its losses from 175 million Sri Lanka rupees ($1.62 million) a day. [ID:nSP210073]
* BANGLADESH - State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, the sole oil importer and distributor, has proposed fuel price increases of 37-80 percent. The interim army-backed government is due to decide shortly about the oil company's proposal. [ID:nSP210073]
* INDONESIA - The world's fourth-most populous country raised fuel prices by an average 28.7 percent from Saturday to help cut a surging subsidy bill that has hit the government's 2008 budget. [ID:nJAK267998]
Indonesia has some of the lowest fuel prices in Asia, but with parliamentary and presidential elections due in 2009, the government had tried to resist cutting fuel subsidies.
* INDIA - Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan told reporters on Friday India is set to raise petrol and diesel prices. India sets the heavily discounted prices at which fuel is sold in order to help fight inflation and protect hundreds of millions of poor people from price shocks. It partially compensates oil retailers by issuing oil bonds to them, which they can either hold as assets or sell in the market, while upstream companies share some of the burden. [ID:nDEL241417]
* MALAYSIA - Malaysia said on Saturday it has no plans to raise petrol and diesel prices despite the mounting cost of subsidies and instead try to better manage its subsidy scheme to prevent abuse, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad said. [ID:nSP271325]
Major oil producer Malaysia has said its subsidy bill could hit a record 50 billion ringgit ($15.56 billion) this year. Its petrol pump price of 1.92 ringgit ($0.60) a litre is one of the lowest in Asia. (Writing by Michael Urquhart; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
