Nguyen Cam Tu, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, affirmed at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, that there is total transparency in local fuel retail price management.
The seminar was held at a time when local consumers are concerned about unreasonable prices, due to which they have missed several chances to enjoy lower fuel prices when global prices slumped.
Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Price Management Agency under the Ministry of Finance, who was present at the meeting, also asserted that fuel price management has been carried out in an open and transparent way.
“Whenever adjusting fuel prices, we always hold press conferences to publicize the information on how the prices are calculated and adjusted, and provide necessary explanation’, he said.
The assertion of the deputy minister, meanwhile, failed to please insiders and analysts, who believe that fuel retail prices are still somewhat vague and the real financial status of the wholesalers remains a mystery to the public.
Tu asserted that domestic fuel retail prices are still determined by the government, rather than by Petrolimex, the country’s largest wholesaler, as questioned by insiders.
“In newspapers published on any day, you will find the cost prices of fuel products on that day as calculated by the finance ministry,” he said.
Deputy Minister Tu added that prices are not the priority in managing the fuel market.
