3:50:17 PM | 17/9/2008
The Vietnamese government has decided to slash domestic retail price of diesel by VND450 or 2.82 per cent per liter to VND15,500 per liter in the wake of the global oil price fall to US$92.93 per barrel September 16 in New York, the Ministries of Industry and Trade, and Finance said.
Under the price cut decision that takes effect from 11:00 am on September 16, diesel 0.5 is offered at VND15,500 per liter and diesel 0.25 at 15,450 per liter, the VietNamNet reported.
Prices of kerosene and gasoline are still kept unchanged, it said.
According to enterprises’ estimation, diesel is of greatest importance in trading and production activities but was maintained despite two recent gasoline price tumbles.
The slight fall in diesel price that is much lower than public expectation is attributed to the fact that the Vietnamese government is currently compensating 70 per cent of losses earlier faced by diesel traders, analysts said.
Market watchdogs said that finished gasoline price in Singapore, which is Vietnam’s main petroleum import market, dropped to US$102.8 per barrel Sept 15’s afternoon and crude oil price tumbled to over $95 per barrel on the morning of September 16.
With that price reduction, petroleum retail price to end-consumers may be slashed to VND13,000 (US$0.78) per liter, including transport, port, depreciation and newly-applied import tax, analysts said.
The Vietnamese government has recently decided to raise petroleum import tax to 5 per cent from current zero percent in a bid to compensate for the State budget in line with the global oil price fall. (VietNamNet, Vnxpress)
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