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Retail petrol prices up VND4,500/litre
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to increase the retail petrol prices up by VND4,500/litre to VND19,000/litre as from 10am on July 21.
Retail diesel and kerosene prices were also adjusted to rise to VND15,900 and VND20,000/litre respectively.
At a press conference in Hanoi on July 21, Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh attributed the adjustments to the upward trend in global oil prices since the beginning of this year.
According to Mr Ninh, oil prices shot up sharply from US$92.86/barrel in January to US$134.06 in June and even US$145 in early July. Though the prices have dropped to US$130/barrel during the past few days, the downward trend is not stable. On average, oil has stayed at US$139.7/barrel over the past 17 days, double the figure a year ago.
The soaring oil prices have also made neighbouring countries adjust their domestic retail oil prices, which are between 31-87 percent higher than Vietnam’s. This has sparked the illegal trading of petrol across the Vietnamese borders.
Mr Ninh said that oil and petrol import businesses will face a loss of VND44.7 trillion over the next six months and VND59.5 trillion for the whole year if global oil prices stay stable at around US$139/barrel. However, he ruled this possibility out because the global oil market is expected to continue with its upward trend.
Retail oil and petrol prices were first adjusted on February 25 this year when the oil prices fluctuated at around US$100/barrel.
VOV
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