[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
[00:06.57]Today we tell you more about the effects of falling oil prices. 
[00:12.61]Lower demand for oil and too much supply have sent prices to their lowest levels in five years.
[00:21.60]Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to keep production at current levels. 
[00:31.25]Representatives of the 12-nation group met in Vienna, Austria. 
[00:37.55]They were unable to reach agreement on changing OPEC¡¯s production targets.
[00:44.70]Lower oil prices are causing economic hardship in some OPEC members. 
[00:52.29]Officials there are exploring ways to cut government spending.
[00:59.71]The president of Venezuela announced last week that he and other government officials should take pay cuts as part of budget reductions. 
[01:11.52]The Reuters news service says the reductions are meant to answer the lower oilprices. 
[01:18.95]It says Venezuela gets 96 percent of its export earnings from oil sales.
[01:27.35] The nation has among the highest inflation rates in Latin America.
[01:33.98]Russia is a major oil exporter, but does not belong to OPEC. 
[01:40.60]This week, Russia¡¯s economic development ministry predicted that the Russian economy will shrink by eight-tenths of a percent in 2015. 
[01:52.91]Oil exports are important to Russia. 
[01:56.85]The value of Russian money has lost about 40 percent of its value this year compared to the American dollar. 
[02:05.96]Observers have blamed the drop on falling profits from oil exports, and Western sanctions to punish Russian actions in Ukraine.
[02:18.59]But economists say the fall in oil prices is helping economies in Asia. Andrew Colquhoun is with Hong Kong-based Fitch Ratings.
[02:30.26]"Most Asia-Pacific economies are oil importers and therefore the decline in oil prices is equivalent to a kind of income gain for them and
[02:41.73] the impact depends on whether they save or spend the income gain."
[02:46.07]In a recent report, Fitch Ratings said China and most major Asian economies would effectively earn more money from sustained lower oil prices. 
[02:59.07]Thailand spends 15 percent of national income on oil, the largest percentage in the area.
[03:07.54]Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all are moving to reduce oil price supports, or subsidies, which are often a major part in government spending.
[03:19.22]Last month Indonesian President Joko Widodo raised subsidized fuel prices by over 30 percent. 
[03:28.96]Trade unions and opposition parties criticized the move. 
[03:34.10]The Indonesian government says it is providing social assistance to over 15million people to ease the effect of higher fuel costs.
[03:46.21]But some experts say it is a matter of time before prices recover. 
[03:52.27]Jack Gerard is president of the American Petroleum Institute.
[03:57.68]He says demand for oil will rise, and prices will find an equilibrium.
[04:04.91]And that¡¯s the VOA Learning English Economics Report. I¡¯m Mario Ritter.