The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has proposed the government of Vietnam to delay the scheduled time [after June] for price increases of key commodities in order to curb inflation, the Labor newspaper reported May 19.
Prices of ten goods items such as power, water, coal, cement and steel, which directly affect CPI, are suggested to be kept unchanged for an additional time, the newspaper said.
Regarding petroleum, the ministry proposed continuing subsidy for traders’ losses. In urgent case, crude oil price in the world market stands too high [exceeding local traders’ withstanding], the ministry will consider a suitable price hike for this product.
The MoF is calculating budget to assist petroleum traders to import 2.18 million cubic meters of petrol between May and June of this year in order to meet domestic demand.
The State subsidizes nearly VND1 trillion for petroleum traders due to current global oil price, the newspaper reported.
By late April, Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) continued to go up 11.6 per cent from December 2007 and 21.42 per cent from last April due to increases of foods and foodstuffs and of housing and construction materials.
According to estimation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, gasoline traders are losing VND1,380 per liter of A92, VND3,097 per liter of diesel, VND2,446 per liter of paraffin and VND1,065 per kilogram of mazut, or averaging VND1 trillion (US$62.5 million) per month due to current global oil price.
Vietnam’s petroleum imports rose 70.2 per cent on year to US$3.95 billion in the Jan-Apr period, while its crude oil exports rose 46.2 per cent to US$3.49 billion during the same period. (Labor)
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