Burmese official defends fuel price hikes

Associated Press - Jim Gomez
Sun 26 Aug 2007

A recent increase in fuel prices that sparked a series of rare protests in Burma was triggered by spiraling global oil prices and was not a political move, a diplomat from the impoverished Southeast Asian nation said Sunday.

Burma could no longer afford to subsidize fuel so heavily because of the steep increases in oil prices worldwide, Thaung Tun, Burma’s ambassador to Manila, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a regional ministers meeting in the Philippine capital.

Burmese activists have speculated that the slashed subsidies—leading to a doubling of prices at the gas pumps—were needed to remedy a government cash shortage.

Some observers said the move could be a prelude to privatization, or that it may even reflect internal conflict within the junta—a deliberate move to provoke unrest, further stall the approval of a long-awaited constitution and embarrass military ruler Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

But Thaung Tun said it was purely an economic issue—the number of cars and motorists on the streets of Burma has increased in recent years, bolstering fuel consumption and subsidy costs.

“The government has no recourse but to remove the subsidies,” he said. “If you won’t do that, it’ll be very costly to the government … It’s not politics.”

Fuel prices in Burma remain among the lowest in Southeast Asia, despite the subsidy cut, Thaung Tun said.

Economic ministers from the 10-members Association of Southeast Asian Nations declined to comment on the protests in Burma at a press conference in Manila.

Burma’s chief representative at the Manila meetings, National Planning and Economic Development Minister Soe Tha, declined to comment when approached directly.

The 10-member bloc, which includes Burma, has a bedrock policy of not interfering in each other’s domestic affairs, although some liberal members have become more vocal with their criticisms over the military-ruled nation’s spotty human rights record.

Earlier this month, Burma’s military junta cut state subsidies that have kept domestic oil prices low for years. The move triggered a number of small, peaceful protests last week, mainly in Rangoon, and police subsequently detained at least 65 activists, including several leaders of Burma’s pro-democracy movement.

Thaung Tun said people would naturally feel bad about any price increase but that the low turnout at the rallies indicated the public understood the government’s decision.

“I think the protests are not that widespread,” he said. “People are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“The problem is the people, they feel the pinch now because … they did not have to pay so much before,” he said, adding Burma’s military leaders would not reverse the move.