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Experts review petrol price draft
Experts have praised new provisions in the Government's draft decree to ensure retail petrol prices fluctuate in pace with the global market.
Under ultimate control of the State, the new provisions will give greater power to importers on price decisions and stabilising prices.
Experts said at a seminar, jointly held by the ministries of Industry and Trade and Finance in Ha Noi yesterday, July 29 that the new rules were clearer and more transparent.
However, they also claimed some provisions were inappropriate.
The symposium was aimed at collecting ideas from experts, businesses and consumer associations in an effort to perfect the amended draft of the Decree on petrol trade composed by the two ministries.
The draft aims to stabilise retail petrol prices, avoid big fluctuations of global prices transferring to local prices, avoid inappropriate and unexpected pricing and encourage local enterprises to compete in a healthy manner, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said yesterday.
Tu said the State would control retail petrol prices by legal and suitable means and publicise when the prices were about to go up or down.
"The petrol importers are also permitted to decide on retail price basing on principles and price calculation measures, the price control structure and stabilisation methods ruled by the State," he said.
The Ministry of Finance suggested three options for petrol price regime. Under the first option, importers would be entitled to adjust prices within 3 per cent either way. The rates would be 10 per cent for the second option and 7 per cent for the third.
All methods had disadvantages, yet the finance ministry preferred the third option of 7 percent, officials said.
Representatives of associations for consumers and transportation companies said the new rules should be more specific and strict to allow importers to adjust the retail prices up or down with a volatile world market. They wanted to avoid the situation where firms increase prices quickly but delayed reducing them and thus penalised the consumer.
Some representatives said associations should take a role in supervising the petrol price stabilisation fund to make sure it was managed and used transparently.
Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association general secretary Nguyen Khanh Toan said the fund was the money collected in advance to use in case prices increase sharply.
Nguyen Dinh Phong from the Viet Nam Institute of Economics recommended petrol stations should be equitised to create harsher competition and help reduce retail prices.
Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade Quach To Dung said policymakers should reconsider harsh requirements for setting up petrol stations. Because of rules on large area, storage capacity and so on, many small stations in HCM City had closed down, triggering a boom in unofficial petrol sellers on the street.
She suggested the high requirements should be applied only for new established stations.
Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu said importers' total losses exceeded VND4 trillion (over $225 million) during 2007-08 when the global oil prices skyrocketed.
Import tariffs on refined petroleum products range between 20 and 30 per cent, and importers must also pay a tax of VND1,000 ($0.06) for each litre of petrol sold on the domestic market.
Retail petrol prices in Viet Nam remained lower than some other places in Asia. For instance, A92 petrol sells here for VND14,200 per litre but ranges from VND14,600 in Taiwan to VND19,800 in Singapore.
VietNamNet, VietNamNews
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