Finance Minister Seeking Govt OK to Slacken Petroleum Price Hike

The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance is seeking the government’s approval to slacken petroleum price hikes to a minimum of 30 days instead of the current 10 days, according to Deputy Minister Tran Van Hieu.

The government, however, has not yet made any final decision, Hieu said at the governmental monthly meeting April 1, adding that petroleum traders must apply timely price cuts corresponding to the global falls.

Hieu’s move followed the complaint by the state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex), the country’s biggest petroleum trader, that it loses VND1,148/liter of gasoline A92, VND944/liter of diesel 0.05S, VND952/liter of kerosene, and VND334/kg of fuel oil 3.5S.

In order to offset for losses in petroleum trading, some Vietnamese petroleum traders are urging the government to utilize the fund as they have to keep prices of petroleum products unchanged through end-March to stabilize the domestic market and curb inflation.

Earlier, Director of the Ministry of Finance’s Price Management Department Nguyen Tien Thoa said Vietnamese authorities are mulling over using one third of the petroleum price stabilization fund to compensate for traders and stabilize the domestic market. The fund collected a total of VND1.5 trillion (US$78.534 million) by March.

Also, Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said Vietnam will not further raise prices of coal and electricity this year to curb possibly high CPI and stabilize local market.

Currently, a liter of gasoline A92 is sold at VND16,990, gasoline A95 at VND17,490, diesel 0.25S VND14,550, diesel 0.05S VND14,600 and kerosene VND15,000, Meanwhile, prices of fuel oil 3S is VND13,300/kg and fuel oil 3.5S VND13,000/kg.

Young People

Tags: Vietnam Petroleum, Vietnam Petroleum price