Hundreds of Cambodians protest against inflation

Channel NewsAsia 6 Apr 08;

PHNOM PENH: About 300 people rallied Sunday outside Cambodia's parliament to protest against double-digit inflation and to demand wage increases to deal with soaring food costs.

The protesters, led by Cambodia's main opposition Sam Rainsy Party, carried banners reading: "We want pay raises. Government must stop inflation."

"The current government is unable to curb inflation... We are pushing them to reduce the prices of essential items or to increase salaries in line with inflation," opposition leader Sam Rainsy told reporters.

The demonstrators later walked to the nearby site of a 1997 grenade attack, where 16 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded during an anti-government protest.

About 100 anti-riot police carrying electric prods and tear gas blocked the surrounding streets to prevent the protesters from entering neighbourhood markets.

Cambodia's inflation cracked into double digits late last year, hovering around 11 per cent, driving up the cost of food and other staple goods.

The price of meat and other essential items has risen by as much as 40 per cent over the past year.

Rice -- Cambodia's staple food -- now costs nearly one US dollar per kilogramme (2.2 pounds), deepening the poverty of the one-third of the country's 14 million people who live on less than 50 US cents a day.

"The prices of commodities have increased so much -- especially oil, rice and meat -- that I can't afford to live," said 20-year-old Huor Ly Ly, a garment worker whose salary is under 60 US dollars a month.

The Cambodian government earlier pushed out a series of measures meant to halt price hikes, banning rice exports and lifting a ban on imported pork. Prices of basic foods, however, have remained stubbornly high.

Aid agencies have warned that the growing food crisis could threaten tens of thousands of rural Cambodians with hunger in the coming year, as even food handouts have become significantly more expensive and harder to distribute. - AFP/ac