Seoul:<Text>

The government announced Thursday it will more than double fuel tax cuts on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) butane products starting next month in a bid to lower the cost burden on consumers. Under the latest measure to support people's livelihoods, the current 10 percent tax cut on butane will be expanded to 25 percent until the end of June, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry said it made such a decision as the impact of international LPG price hikes caused by the Middle Eastern crisis is expected to be felt domestically beginning in May. It added the move can help lower financial burden for butane users, who are mostly in the low-income group. International butane prices have jumped nearly 50 percent to an average of US$800 per ton this month from $540 per ton in March.

Late last month, the government also more than doubled tax cuts on gasoline and diesel from 7 percent and 10 percent t o 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively, through the end of May. The finance ministry said the intergovernmental inspection team has nabbed 99 cases of petroleum business law violations through intensive crackdowns on more than 5,700 gas stations nationwide, including cases of false reporting and hoarding.

The government will continue its ongoing effort to lower the burden on people's livelihoods, the ministry said, noting that the country saw a modest pace of consumer price inflation of 2.2 percent in March, but it's expected to see higher inflation in the mid-2 percent range or higher in April with an increase in fuel prices. The ministry added it will also continue measures to stabilize supplies of key industrial materials, such as naphtha and urea, to minimize the impact of the Mideast crisis on domestic industries.