The Ministry of Finance has said some petrol importers filed a petition asking for import tax cuts. This is because they find it difficult to keep prices stable, as ordered by the government. The tax rates are expected to decrease by 4-5 percent.
Earlier, the ministry have approved to reduce petrol import tax from 17 percent to 12 percent, while petroleum and diesel is to be reduced from 10 to five percent.
The ministry has assessed that the increased to oil price would make it inevitable for petrol and oil businesses to suffer losses. The import tax reduction is aimed at sharing difficulties with businesses and implementing the Prime Minister's instruction on slowing down price increase from now to the year-end.
At present, fuel traders are incurring losses of VND1,900 – 2,600 per litre due to high world oil prices.
The ministry also said that the petrol price would remain stable throughout the first quarter of 2011.
These measures are being taken to ensure the supply and the price of fuel remain stable, through the first quarter of 2011.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Import-Export Department, local petrol traders have so far imported 70 per cent of the minimum imported quota. The petrol consumption in 2010 is 8 per cent higher than in 2009.
However, some trading companies, including Military Petroleum Company, Maritime Petroleum Company and Mekong Petroleum Company have changed their import plans to avoid any losses. This is creating difficulties for others, especially Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex).
Due to these losses, some companies have reduced commissions for agents, causing some petrol stations to stop or reduce their sale volume and wait for the price to go up.
Meanwhile, deputy chief of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Market Management Department, Vo Van Quyen, confirmed that no enterprise are to experience a supply shortage and that they had closed some petrol stations, in the anticipation of a higher price.
Vice Minister Quyen said the department has sent official dispatches to the Market Management Department in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City asking them to investigate and deal with this problem. They are instructed to punish any business that speculate on price increases and revoke their business licenses, if found guilty of this offence.
