Vietnam PM Approves in Principle Power Price Rise of 6.8% from Mar 1

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved in principle a plan to increase the domestic power prices by 6.8% from March 1 of this year, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao said on Feb. 22.

 

As a result, the country’s average power price will be increased to VND1,036/kWh from the average of VND970.9/kWh in 2009, the Vietnamnet.vn online newspaper reported on February 22, citing Hao.

 

In line with the power price rise, coal prices for the electricity industry will be raised by around 28% from the current prices, Hao attributed.

 

The power price increase is estimated to drive up electricity spending by industries by over VND4.5 trillion ($235.602 million), lower GDP growth by 0.28% and hike CPI by between 0.17% and 0.22% this year.

 

Meanwhile, prices of some goods and services will be raised by between 0.09% and 2.28% and households will have to pay a power surcharge of between VND5,000 and VND8,600 per month.

 

He said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is compiling a circular to guide implementation of power price increase this year and expects to issue it this weekend.

 

The power price table for household consumption will be the same as that of 2009 with seven scales and incentives for first 50kWh consumption, he noted.

 

The approved power price increase plan is the same as the second scenario made by the Ministry of Finance but higher than the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s earlier proposal of 4.98% and is a bit lower than the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN)’s proposal of 6.94% for this year. (Local sources)