A driver in Hanoi fills up a motorbike at a gas station. (Photo: VNA) Speaking to reporters at the ministry's monthly meeting, Chi saidthe Ministry of Finance has put forward a proposal to cut or remove a number offees and taxes on fuel imports in an attempt to rein in rising petrol prices,which has been hurting economic recovery and businesses.
The proposal, which has been approved by the National Assembly'sStanding Committee, brought import tax on gasoline from 2,000 VND to 1,000 VNDper litre, jet fuel from 1,500 VND to 1,000 VND, diesel from 1,000 VND to 500VND and lubricant from 1,000 VND to 300 VND per kilogramme.
Chairman of the NA Vuong Dinh Hue said as fuel was consideredamong the country's strategic commodities the government was to utilise allmeasures and policies at its disposal to regulate prices for the benefitof economic recovery and stability.
The deputy minister said if implemented from August, the cutswould likely result in a 7 trillion VND (302 million USD) drop in theState budget. Combined with previous cuts under decisions by the NA's StandingCommittee since the beginning of the year, the State budget collection, by theministry’s estimation, will fall by 1.4 billion USD in 2022.
As global oil prices continue to rise, Vietnam’s oil exportwas said to increase by 9 trillion VND this year, which helps offset the dropin State budget collection after the tax cuts.
“We have also been looking into other ways to help bring downdomestic petrol prices including possible import tax breaks, VAT and specialconsumption tax cuts,” said the deputy minister.
For the time being, the ministry is to closely watch global anddomestic petrol prices to make sure timely interventions can be implemented tobest support the country’s socio-economic development.
Bui Ngoc Bao, President of the Vietnam Petroleum Association(VINPA), called on the ministry to reduce the country’s currentmost-favoured-nation tariff from 10% to 8% for a fixed period of time and totighten regulations on fuel trading.
In a recent online conference with local governments, PrimeMinister Pham Minh Chinh told governmental offices and ministries all policyand fiscal tools were made available to policymakers in order to bring down Vietnam’spetrol prices. However, he said the implementation must be carried outstep-by-step to ensure fuel traders receive the best possible support.
Since the beginning of the year, fuel prices in Vietnam haveincreased 13 times, bringing fuel prices to a historically high level with RON95-III gasoline (the most commonly used type in the country) to 32,760 VND perlitre, E5 RON 92 to 30,890 VND and diesel to 29,610 VND per litre, nearly 50% higherthan January 2022./.
VNA
