SANAA, July 26: Yemen’s cabinet decided on Tuesday to cut fuel prices, less than a week after 22 people were killed in riots sparked by price rises for petrol, diesel and kerosene, the official Saba news agency said.

Saba did not say when the price adjustment would come into effect, but a Yemeni official earlier told Reuters the lower prices would be effective from Wednesday. Analysts had expected the government to revise its decision to appease public anger. Price rises caused by cuts in subsidies have set off riots in Yemen in the past, often leading the government to revise its decision.

More than 300 people, including 250 security forces and police, were injured in last week’s nationwide protests against the subsidy cut, which almost doubled the price of petrol.

The riots were the worst since protests in 1998 in Yemen, a poor country of 19 million implementing economic reforms backed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The Yemeni official said gas cylinders would also be priced at lower prices. Yemen spends around 50 billion rials annually in petrol subsidies and more than 165 billion rials annually in diesel subsidies, Saba said.—Reuters