The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has decided to increase oil import taxes to 15 per cent from the current 10 per cent as of January 10, following recently stable lower prices of crude oil on the world market.
The month-long price of crude oil staying well below US$60 a barrel leads to the tax rise, a Ministry of Finance’s official said.
Crude oil for February delivery dropped as much as US$1.03, or 1.8 per cent, to US$55.06 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gasoline, solvent, turbine oil, tetrapropylene, paraphin and others are included in the new rate today, reads a decision signed by Deputy Finance Minister Truong Chi Trung.
Lubricating oils are levied 20 per cent tax.
However, the tax on airplane petrol alone remains unchanged at 10 per cent.
Under the new tariff, the government will continue to subsidize domestic petroleum import companies, a financial senior official said, implying that Vietnam was yet to have a roadmap on the removal of state financing to energy businesses.
If the world price continues weakening, the ministry would not only continue to adjust the import tariff but also consider a cut in domestic retail price, currently set by the government, not oil traders.
Last month, the ministry halved oil import taxes to 10 per cent despite the global low.
The official said the trade and finance ministries will weigh the possibility of a petrol price cut, preferably VND500 a liter, on the condition of continued stability in the global price.
A liter of A92 gasoline now costs VND10,500.
Vietnam periodically adjusts import taxes and retail prices to cope with global oil price volatility to control profits of petrol importers, all state-owned.
Despite being the third largest crude producer in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has yet to have a refinery and is dependent on imports of petroleum products.
The country imported 11 million metric tons of petroleum products worth $5.85 billion in 2006, down 3.8 per cent in volume but up 16.4 per cent in value. (Youth, HCM City Law)
Vietnamese
