Thousands protest against electricity price hike in Suriname
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) – More than 5,000 people took to the streets here Friday to protest the latest hike in electricity rates.
The announcement of the increase followed an advice from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the Desi Bouterse-administration to cut back on its subsidy to the sector.
The government has provided US$160 million in subsidy annually to the national power company and the announcement said that the new electricity rates went into effect from May 1.
Opposition parties, labour unions and the private sector have publicly opposed the new measure and late Thursday, President Bouterse announced that he was postponing the date for the implementation of the increase.
He told radio listeners that in the coming days the government will discuss the matter further with the unions and business sector and also seek advice from the Social and Economic Council, before taking a final decision,
However, the organizers of the protest have refused to call off the rally, saying that prices for other products and commodities have been increasing over the past few months.
They said further the devaluation of the local currency has also led to increased prices and earlier this year, Bouterse told Parliament that the price hike for electricity won’t affect some 75 per cent of all households since the government subsidy for this group would continue.
Protesters urged the government not to implement austerity measures backed by the IMF fearing that the situation could worsen.
Last month, the IMF announced that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Suriname on the key elements of an economic programme that could be supported by a two-year US$478 million stand-by arrangement (SBA).
The IMF has said that the sustained drop in the prices of gold and oil has caused substantial external and fiscal deficits, and international reserves have declined significantly. These negative external developments, combined with the closure of Suralco’s alumina refinery in late 2015, have pushed the economy into a recession.
