The newly inaugurated government released a list of 52 consumer goods whose prices it wants to control to help ease rising costs in the face of soaring energy prices and the falling Korean won.

New president Lee Myung-bak has separately promised a range of tax cuts across the economy, as he battles to soften the blow from inflation to Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Topping the list were the national staple rice, flour and packaged instant noodles. Number 24 on the list was trousers but shirts didn’t make it.

Soju, the local spirit that sells for about a dollar a bottle, was number 22 but number 23 was sugar, not beer.

Shampoo and laundry detergent made it to the list but not soap. Mackerels and anchovies were there but no other kind of fish. Apples, yes but not oranges or pears.

Presidential Blue House officials said the picks were based on the national spending patterns of working people according to official statistics.

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