Vietnam Finance Minister Re-Proposes No More Power, Coal Price Hikes till End-2010

The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance’s Price Management Department has once again proposed no further coal and electricity price hikes through end-2010 to curb possibly high CPI and stabilize local market.

The department also said petroleum traders could raise the domestic prices upon the price rises in the world market after June but must slacken increases.

Earlier, the ministry has twice asked for no more coal and electricity price hikes through the year-end.

From March 1, Vietnam raised electricity prices by 6.8% and coal prices for the power industry by between 28.23% and 46.6%.

The department estimates Vietnam’s CPI will rise between 0.3% and 0.35% in June compared to May.

The country’s CPI in May rose at a slow on-month pace of 0.27% as prices of foods and foodstuff services dropped 0.12%. The index was up 9.05% from May 2009 and 4.55% from the beginning of 2010, the General Statistics Office said.

Analysts forecast that the Southeast Asian nation is unlikely to curb inflation at 7% this year. (Youth)

Tags: Vietnam Coal prices, Vietnam power prices