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| Arabia |
| High oil prices take a toll on the Gulf's middle class |
| 2008-02-25 |
| AMMAN: Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to propel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food and other basic goods that is squeezing this region's middle class and setting off strikes, demonstrations and occasional riots from Morocco to the Gulf. In Jordan, the soaring price of oil led the government to remove almost all its costly fuel subsidies this month, pushing the price of some fuels up 76 percent overnight. In a devastating domino effect, the cost of basic foods like eggs, potatoes and cucumbers doubled or more. In Saudi Arabia, where the inflation rate had been virtually zero for a decade, it has reached an official level of 6.5 percent, though unofficial estimates put it much higher. Public protests and boycotts have followed, and 19 prominent clerics posted an unusual statement on the Internet in December warning of a crisis that would cause "theft, cheating, armed robbery and resentment between rich and poor." The Middle East's heavy reliance on food imports has made it especially vulnerable to the global rise in commodity prices over the past year How ironic. The rich Arabs get the oil profits, and the poor Arabs get to pay the bill. Maybe we can exchange a bushel of wheat for a barrel of oil. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #1 Oh, cry me a handful of tears. I hope the price of drinking water goes up 50X. |
| Posted by: Marilyn Threque2589 2008-02-25 15:17 |