Hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets in Amman Tuesday night after the government announced that it will lift its subsidies on fuel derivatives.

The demonstrators called for sacking the government led by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, which made the decision to end the subsidies.

The protesters rallied near the Interior Ministry Circle in the center of Amman, rejecting the government's promise to prosecute the corruption and restore the money they stole.

Security forces have been heavily deployed around the place where the demonstration is being held in the capital.

Also, demonstrations took place in other cities across the nation with Jordanians flocking to gas stations, causing traffic jams in the streets, according to witnesses.

Earlier on Tuesday, Abdullah Ensour announced that his government will end its subsidies on fuel derivatives as the country is in difficult financial and economic conditions, state- run Jordan Television reported.

In an interview with the TV, the prime minister said Jordan's financial situation was affected by the Arab turmoil as well as a decrease in Egypt's supplies of natural gas in the past two years, stressing that Jordan had lost about 5 billion US dollars due to these regional developments.

"The decision to lift the fuel subsidies is taken at the right time and cannot be delayed, or a disaster will occur," he said during the interview.

Instead, the prime minister said Jordanian families making less than 800 Jordanian dinars (1,130 US dollars) a month will receive cash payments from the government and a maximum of six family members can get 70 Jordanian dinars (99 US dollars) each annually.

In the interview, Abdullah Ensour said Jordan's state budget deficit is expected to reach 3.5 billion dinars (5 billion US dollars) this year.

As part of the measures to rein in the deficit, the Jordanian government will merge some ministries and agencies while cancelling some others, said the prime minister, adding that financial allocation to independent agencies will be cut by 15 percent.