Petroleum importers on Aug. 1 raised retail fuel prices by an average of 400-900 VND (0.019-0.043 USD) per litre.
Petrolimex, the nation's leading fuel distributor, announced prices of
22,400 VND per litre for RON 95 and 21,900 for RON 92. Diesel is set at
20,800 VND per litre and kerosene at 20,650 VND per litre, while mazut
increased to 18,450 VND. The Sai Gon Petroleum Co Ltd also announced a
similar price hike, with petrol products and kerosene prices rising by
400 VND.
The companies' decision followed approval from
the Ministry of Finance, granted after global oil prices had increased
for over 11 consecutive days.
Under current regulations of
the ministries of Industry and Trade, and Finance aimed at avoiding
runaway fuel prices, price adjustments must also be at least 10 days
apart, and no single increase can exceed 7 per cent.
Importers are eligible to adjust prices according to market
fluctuations, but the State still controlled prices to make sure that
these fluctuations ds not strongly affect consumers, said the director
of the Ministry of Finance's price management department, Nguyen Tien
Thoa.
If prices continueso to rise, the two ministries
can consider measures to control prices and taxes or allow payments from
the fuel price stabilisation fund.
Meanwhile, cooking gas
distributors yesterday also raised prices by 52,000 VND (2.50 USD) to
an average of 367,000 VND (18 USD) per 12kg canister.
Distributors rasing prices included Sai Gon Petroleum, MT Gas and Pacific Petro, among others.
After a period of falling prices, imported gas has risen to 775 USD per tonne, 177.50 USD higher than in early July.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City market watch team, gas prices are
prone to fluctuations, but pricing violations are also widespread, so
the team intended to tighten inspections in the near future. In July,
the team inspected 22 gas shops and agents, and 14 are found to have
violated regulations by illegally extracting gas from cannisters and
falsifying weights.-VNA