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Viet Nam slashes fuel prices again
The price of fuel keeps dropping in line with global oil prices. On Saturday, the cost at meters throughout Viet Nam fell by about three per cent. This followed cuts made only the day before.
The price of 92-octane grade gasoline (A92) fell from VND16,000 to VND15,500 a litre nationally on Saturday.
The cut, the fifth made this year, also included a reduction in the price of A95 petrol from VND16,500 on Friday to VND16,000 on Saturday.
Diesel fell from VND15,200 to VND14,500, and kerosene from VND16,500 to VND16,000.
The first cut occurred on August 14, when A92 petrol dropped in price from VND19,000 a litre to VND18,000. The second cut took place a fortnight later when the price dropped a further VND1,000 to VND17,000 per litre.
The third cut came on October 8 when the retail price of A92 petrol fell by VND500 per litre nation-wide to VND16,500.
An official from the Viet Nam National Petroleum Corp (Petrolimex), which holds 60 per cent of the country's fuel market, said if world oil prices fell further, local prices would decrease accordingly.
Viet Nam, Asians second-largest importer of petrol and diesel, last month gave oil product importers the right to set retail prices as they moved to deregulate the fuel market and scrap oil subsidies.
The finance and trade ministries have since established a regulatory committee to monitor oil-product prices and approve importers' proposals to adjust retail prices.
Last month, the consumer price index (CPI) was 27.9 per cent higher than a year ago, but following the two fuel-price cuts in August, September's price rise of 0.18 per cent was the lowest monthly increase since October 2006.
Viet Nam imports almost all its oil products because it lacks refineries. The second-largest importer of petrol and diesel in Asia after Indonesia, it is due to open its first oil refinery in February.
The Dung Quat plant, is expected to supply more than 40 per cent of the country's total fuel needs.
VNN
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