Ease: China to cut fuel prices from peak

BEIJING: China will cut retail ceiling prices for gasoline and diesel by about 3 percent from Sunday, taking prices off record highs at a time when headline inflation eased from a three-year peak.

The National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s macro policy maker said the price cut, at 300 yuan per ($47) per ton, was triggered as global crude prices fell under a current fuel pricing mechanism.

“The price cut will help lower the operational cost of the society, ease the upward pressure of overall price levels and is conducive to the steady and relatively fast growth of the economy,” the NDRC said in a statement.

The modest price cut, much expected by the market, came six months after the previous price change in early April when the government lifted prices by around 5 percent to record highs.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2011.