Saudi to boost petrol prices by more than 50%

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Monday it was raising petrol prices by more than 50 percent for some products from Tuesday as it cuts a range of subsidies after posting a record budget deficit.

Prices will also increase for electricity, water, diesel and kerosene under the cuts decided by the council of ministers headed by King Salman, the official SPA news agency reported.

The council decided to raise the price of higher-grade unleaded petrol to 0.90 riyals ($0.24) per litre from 0.60 riyals, a hike of 50 percent, and for lower-grade petrol to 0.75 riyals ($0.20) from 0.45 riyals per litre, a 67 percent rise.

Petrol prices in the kingdom have been the cheapest in the Gulf and some of the lowest in the world .... http://news.yahoo.com