Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Arroyo expects short Iraq crisis (3:18 pm)
MANILA -- President Arroyo said Wednesday she expects the Iraq crisis to be "short and temporary" and urged oil consumers to bear with higher costs for the time being.
"The coming weeks will call for sacrifice, fortitude, and cooperation from all of us," she said in a luncheon speech to a business group.
"I appeal to the transport sector to defer requests for a fare increase. The crisis will be short and temporary, and oil prices should return to pre-crisis levels quickly," she added.
Bus firms have petitioned government regulators to allow them to raise fares after pump prices soared to an all-time high this week amid global expectation that the United States and its allies would attack Iraq shortly.
The Philippines imports most of its oil from the Middle East.
"Artificial pressures brought on by the crisis, not real supply-side shortages, cause the prices of crude to rise temporarily," Arroyo said.
"A fare hike petition now may add to instability and social unrest. A fare hike is usually followed by a demand to increase wages, which will be followed by increases in prices of commodities," she added. (AFP) |
