(BSS/AFP) - Bolivians protesting a doubling in fuel prices caused by an end to two decades of state subsidies brought traffic to a standstill Friday in cities nationwide.

The country`s new center-right president Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday announced an end to the subsidies used by leftist governments to freeze fuel prices for 20 years.

The move is part of a package of reforms announced by Paz to end a deep economic crisis, blamed partly on the billions of dollars spent annually to keep fuel cheap.

The fuel price increases, which took effect on Thursday, caused fares for buses -- the main mode of transport in the Andean country -- to double.

Bus drivers took to the streets of the administrative capital La Paz, satellite city of El Alto and eastern economic hub of Santa Cruz to demand the subsidies be reinstated.

They were joined in La Paz by traders, who said the fuel hikes were making their goods too expensive for customers.

"For us, there is no Christmas anymore," Paulina Tancara, a 74-year-old small-business owner, told AFP, expressing her disappointment with Paz, whom she backed in the two-round August-October elections.

Bolivia is experiencing a severe shortage of the foreign currency needed to import fuel and other essentials.

Annual inflation rose to nearly 20 percent in November.

Previous attempts to eliminate the country`s cherished fuel subsidies have however encountered stiff resistance.

Apart from transport workers and traders, other sectors have announced protests over the fuel increases.

One mining union has declared an indefinite strike, and on Monday coca growers led by former socialist president Evo Morales will march on the central city of Cochabamba.

Morales, who served three terms as president between 2006 and 2019, had attempted to stand again in this year`s election but was barred by constitutional term limits.