Mexico removed its last price controls on gasoline and diesel Thursday, the final step in a reform that triggered riots when it began in January. The elimination of price controls in the south and center of the country was only supposed to take effect on December 30, but the national energy regulator said the reform was going so well in the north that it had decided to push forward the date.
"In the areas where this process has already taken effect, where price limits were already removed... we have not observed any spike in prices," Deputy Finance Minister Miguel Messmacher told Mexican radio network Formula. Latin America's second-biggest economy has launched a sweeping reform of its energy sector, eliminating state oil company Pemex's 75-year monopoly, reopening the door to foreign firms and liberalizing the price of fuel.
When the government first cut its fuel subsidies in January, causing the price of gasoline to rise by more than 20 percent, protesters trashed service stations, torched buses, looted stores and exchanged gunfire with police, leaving six people dead.
But there were no reports of protests as the final phase took effect Thursday in the most populous parts of the country, including Mexico City, home to 20 million people and more than 3.5 million cars. The final price limit set by the government Wednesday for regular unleaded gasoline was 16.76 pesos (90 US cents) per liter.
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