Gasoline prices in Vietnam may go up to VND17,000 per liter in the near future in the wake of the global oil rate soar as the Vietnamese government has decided to end petroleum subsidy from 2008, said specialists.
The planned price hike may shock local consumers and cause a slight disorder in the market, they noted.
However, they also hoped that the new gasoline pricing mechanism will result in a relative stability for local market when it is applied for a long period, and will help the government avoid subsidy and manage petroleum prices flexibly.
In a bid to deal with sudden fluctuations in the global petroleum prices and keep the local retail prices of gasoline stable for a long time, the Ministry of Finance has recently proposed setup of a petroleum price stabilization fund.
The hoped fund will encourage gasoline traders to contribute an amount of money when making profit, which will help compensate their losses and keep local market stable in a particular period amid the global oil price hikes.
The traders will apply price hikes only when the world oil prices surpass 10 per cent of annual price estimation, a financial official said, elaborating that local petroleum prices will be adjusted once for every three months or six months.
Specialists still have different ideas on the ministry’s mulled fund.
Gasoline traders in Vietnam are losing VND1,500 per liter of A92 gasoline and VND3,400 per liters of diesel, respectively.
Currently, a liter of A 92 gasoline is sold at VND11,300 and a liter of diesel at VND8,700.
Imported gasoline price has surpassed US$97 per barrel recently, said traders. (Youth)
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