Organized labour in Guinea has said that it is “watching” the rising cost of petroleum products and the attendant high cost of basic commodities and will react appropriately in December.
Prices of petroleum products, hiked by the government in December, 2010, have sparked soaring prices of basic commodities across the country and sources say this could lead to some unpleasant reactions from the population and the labour unions.
For instance, a liter of gasoline, raised from 4,500 Guinea Francs (GF) to GF 7,500 in December, 2010, has again been raised to GF 9,500 (US$ 1 = FG 7,000).
The government said the double hike under one year, was because it subsidizes petroleum products to the tune of FCFA 6.5 billion monthly.
According to the sources, the increase in prices was a condition imposed by donors to enable Guinea to qualify for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative
