India cuts fuel prices after oil slumps from record

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NEW DELHI, Dec. 5 (Agencies): India cut retail fuel prices for the first time since February 2007, joining other Asian nations in lowering energy costs, after global crude oil prices slumped from a record and economic growth slowed.
Gasoline prices have been cut by 5 rupees (10 US cents) a litre and diesel by two rupees a litre, Oil Minister Murli Deora said today. The price of cooking gas remains unchanged and there is no change in taxes on petroleum products.
The government has taken this decision as an "interim measure," Deora said, without elaborating. The price cuts are effective from midnight, he said.
Lower retail fuel prices may help to cool inflation, prompting further interest-rate cuts by the central bank, as India tries to protect the economy from the global recession and spur growth after the Nov. 26-29 terrorist attacks weakened investor sentiment. India's central bank expects the economy to expand as slow as 7.0 per cent in the year to March after growth of more than 9.0 per cent in the previous three years.