JAKARTA, May 4: In a move likely to add momentum to near-daily student protests, the government said Monday it will raise fuel, electricity and transport costs, reports AP.

The moves comply with terms of a 43 billion dollars bailout plan led by the International Monetary Fund, which requires the nation of 200 million people to open up its economy In return for aid.

But the partial lifting of subsidies on fuel and electricity this month will increase the burden on Indonesians who have seen their once-booming economy slide into ruin since last year.

"It will get harder." said taxi driver Racnmad, one of hundreds of motorists who filled up his tank ahead of the price hike. Long lines of cars pulled up outside Jakarta gas stations.

On Tuesday, the government will raise the price of kerosene by 25 per cent and gasoline will go up 71 per cent, said Minister of Mines and Energy. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.

The price of city bus fares will increase by as much as 67 per cent on Tuesday, he said. Train and ferry tickets will also rise nationwide.

Electricity prices will increase by 20 per cent later this month, with further hikes expected in August and November. Kuntoro salt!

One campus activist said the price hikes will trigger more protests against President Suharto, a 76-year-old former army general who has been in power for more than 30 years.

Everything the government has done. Including raising the cost of fuel and transport, will increase tension among ordinary people." said Firman Baso.

a student at Jakarta University.

Student rallies have turned increasingly violent in recent days, as protesters demand democratic reform as well as lower prices of basic commodities. Costs soared following a plunge in the value of the rupiah last year.

Indonesia's military chief Gen. Wlranto. on Monday ordered commanders to get tough with unruly protesters. Meanwhile. police fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters at a campus in the northern city of Medan.

Bring down Suharto and his family, "read a banner at a protest at Mercu Buana University in Jakarta. About 1.000 students marched into the street as anti-riot officers stood nearby.

The government also said it was handing over assets of the monopoly on cloves, the main ingredient in Indonesia's popular perfumed cigarettes, to cooperatives.

BPPC. the company that controlled the clove trade for seven years, was run by Suharto's youngest son. Hutomo Mandala Putra.

Critics viewed BPPC as a symbol of the wide control that the president, his family and close associates exercise over the economy.

IMF directors are expected to release dlrs 1 billion in emergency financial aid for Indonesia at a meeting at their Washington headquarters later Monday.

IMF director Michel Camdessus said in Singapore that he has proposed that the IMF executive board restart disbursement of international laid money to Indonesia.