Argentine court suspends cutting of subsidies for home heating gas
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Argentina's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the government must hold public hearings before cutting energy subsidies and hiking residential utility rates, a decision sure to be welcomed by homeowners while threatening the country's austerity drive.
Elected in November on promises of lifting the heavy market controls favored by the previous government, President Mauricio Macri slashed natural gas subsidies in February. As a consequence, heating bills during a particularly cold Southern Hemisphere winter skyrocketed, prompting public protests.
The spike in utility rates hit families already slammed by 40-percent inflation and a shrinking economy that has limited wage increases.
"The increase in utility prices cannot be validly implemented without public hearings on the issue," the court said in a unanimous decision. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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