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Prices capped in quake areas
15/05/2008 18:01 - (SA)
Beijing - China has imposed temporary price caps on basic goods and transport services in areas hit hardest by this week's deadly 7.9 earthquake.
China froze the price of food, drinking water and transport in Sichuan and neighbouring Gansu province, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a notice on its website on Thursday.
After the earthquake, many supermarkets were closed in Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu and some other counties, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Fruit and vegetables in parts of Sichuan and Gansu saw price rises between 11 to 200%, Xinhua said.
The commission, a powerful body that runs China's economic policy, said it discovered two cases of people trying to raise prices for goods in Mianyang county, one of the worst-hit areas.
One vendor sold instant noodles for nearly three times the price, and the other sold mineral water for double the price. Both were fined 160 yuan ($23).
China is already suffering from high inflation, which last month reached close to a 12-year high. Regulators have repeatedly raised interest rates and tightened lending policies in an attempt to curb inflation.
The confirmed death toll from the quake reached 19 509 on Thursday, up from the nearly 15 000 confirmed dead the day before, according to the Earthquake and Disaster Relief Headquarters of the State Council, the country's Cabinet.
The council said deaths could rise to some 50 000, state TV reported.
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