KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will sink 800 million ringgit (US210.52

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will sink 800 million ringgit (US210.52 million) into broadband facilities to expand the service to rural areas and roll out faster access to the Internet, reports said Saturday.

Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Lim Keng Yaik was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying broadband penetration nationwide was very low at only 0.44 percent, compared with 48 percent in neighboring Singapore and 60 percent in South Korea.

The broadband access would be expanded also to connect schools, government offices, universities and research institutions for telemedicine in local clinics, he added.--AFP

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. SriLanka-oil Sri Lanka raises gasoline prices by 13 percent JP/16/money Sri Lanka raises gasoline prices by 13 percent

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Saturday raised gasoline prices by 13.3 percent to recoup some of the losses suffered by the state-run oil company, officials said.

The retail price of gasoline was raised to 68 rupees (68 U.S. cents) a liter, up from 60 rupees, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said.

It said the price increase was however not enough to wipe out the near five billion rupee (US$50 million) loss suffered as a result of not increasing prices since February in line with rising international oil prices.

The government held back the price of diesel which is commonly used by public transport, but the CPC said it was asking the government to allow a further increase in gasoline as a cross subsidy for holding down diesel prices.

An oil price increase was widely expected after the conclusion of local council elections earlier this month, but the government had vowed it would not raise prices.--AFP

;Bloomberg; ANPAf..r.. Money-India-Lpg India May Allow Private Firms To Sell Subsidized LPG JP/ /

NEW DELHI: India's government may allow private sector firms to sell subsidized liquefied petroleum gas to customers in the domestic market, an Indian Petroleum Ministry official said on Friday.

"The matter is being considered by the government. A decision may be taken soon," said the official, declining to elaborate further.

At present, subsidized LPG is sold only by four state-run petroleum firms - Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and IBP Co. Ltd..

LPG is primarily used in the urban households in India as a cooking fuel.

Though India deregulated its petroleum sector in April last year, the government continues to subsidize LPG and kerosene. Currently, the subsidy for LPG is 106 rupees a cylinder.

India's demand for liquefied petroleum gas is expected to rise 8.81 percent on the year to 10.13 million metric tons in the current fiscal year to March 2005.

India imports around 70 percent of its crude requirement. Currently, the country's annual consumption of petroleum products is close to 107 million tons.--Bloomberg

;AP; ANPA ..r.. Money-Singapore-Arts Rule-bound Singapore wants to double arts and media sector by 2012 JP/16/money Rule-bound Singapore wants to double arts and media sector by 2012

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government wants to double the size of the country's media, design and arts industries to 6 percent of the economy by 2012, a minister said on Saturday.

The target comes as officials have said they want the country to move away from its stuffy, rule-bound image and embrace more creativity as it seeks ways to sustain economic growth.

"The creative industries are poised to play a significant role in transforming our economy and society," Lee Boon Yang, minister for information, communication and the arts, told a graduation ceremony for fine arts students.

Last year, Singapore's trade-dependent economy was valued at about 160 billion Singapore dollars (US$92.8 billion), implying that the government expects the arts sector to double in size from today's S$4.8 billion ($2.8 billion).

Lee said the arts sectors in Britain and the United States now account for 8 percent of those economies, and are still growing.

Singapore's government has set aside more than 200 million Singapore dollars ($116 million) over five years to invest in the arts sector, Lee said, without giving details. --AP