Japan Average Pump Price Falls for 2nd Straight Week

Politics Economy

Tokyo, March 30 (Jiji Press)--The average retail price of regular gasoline in Japan stood at 174 yen per liter as of Monday, down 0.60 yen from a week before and falling for the second straight week, an industry ministry report showed Wednesday.

The average gasoline price still stayed near a peak since September 2008.

The Oil Information Center, which conducts the price survey on behalf of the ministry, expects the average price to rebound next week.

Although the government decided to increase its subsidies to oil wholesalers to the ceiling of 25 yen per liter, effective from Thursday, reflecting a rise in crude oil prices last week, the higher subsidies are unlikely to be enough to offset the oil price growth.

The government is set to extend the subsidy program, aimed at curbing rising gasoline prices, for one month until the end of April.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press