The U.S. Post Office's surface mail will rise to 46 points in January next year (picture)

The U.S. Post Office's surface mail will rise to 46 points in January next year (picture) The General Post Office announced on the 11th that the price of ordinary mail stamps will increase by one penny next year. A piece of "Forever...

The Postal Service announced on the 11th that the price of surface mail stamps will increase by one cent next year, with a "Forever" stamp costing 46 cents. (Associated Press)

The General Postal Service announced on the 11th that the price of first-class stamps will increase by one cent starting from January 27 next year. From 2006 to January next year, the price of stamps has increased from 39 cents to 46 cents.

The post office also launched a new international permanent stamp. Ordinary letters sent to any country in the world will cost 1.1 yuan. The current price of international stamps varies depending on the destination. First-class mail sent to Canada and Mexico is $0.85.

According to legal regulations, stamp prices cannot increase by more than the increase in inflation, or by more than 2.6%, unless the post office obtains special permission. The post office will lose $15 billion this year and has asked Congress to authorize a 5-cent increase in postage rates, but Congress has failed to act.

The post office will also increase the price of services such as priority mail, by an average of four cents. Postcards will also rise to 0.33 yuan.

The post office lost 5.1 billion yuan in the last fiscal year, mainly due to a 5.8% drop in surface mail revenue.

Although the Post Office said it will continue to cut expenses, Postmaster General Donahue said that the Post Office has few channels to significantly increase revenue and now can only wait for members of Congress to pass the postal reform law when they reconvene after the election.