Tokyo, 5 February, /AJMEDIA/
The government will hike its subsidy for oil wholesalers to the upper limit just two weeks after the program was implemented to curb a surge in gasoline and other fuel prices, officials said Friday.
The industry ministry will pay the subsidy of 5 yen per liter for a week from next Thursday to cap Japan’s average regular retail gasoline price at around 170 yen ($1.5) per liter.
The ministry launched the program on Jan. 27 to prevent oil distributors and importers from passing on higher wholesale prices to consumers, setting the subsidy at 3.4 yen. It was later raised to the current 3.7 yen, reflecting rises in gasoline prices.
Under the program, effective through March, the government reviews the subsidy amount every week.
The average gasoline price was 170.9 yen per liter as of Monday, the highest since September 2008.
