Prime Minister: Consider allocating budget to stabilize gasoline prices

At the Standing Government meeting on March 16, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam will definitely not lack gasoline and oil under any circumstances. He requested to regulate prices according to the market mechanism under the management of the State, and at the same time implement flexible and effective stabilization measures.

If the conflict situation in the Middle East persists, the Prime Minister said that management agencies need to review and report to competent authorities to consider budget allocation to support the stabilization of gasoline prices.

“The spirit of taking production, business and people’s lives as the main pillars to build policies, ensuring stable production, business and people’s lives, minimizing the impact,” the Prime Minister said.

At the same time, Government leaders also noted that it is strictly forbidden to hoard goods, increase prices or take advantage of policies to profit, causing market disruption. Ministries, including the Ministry of Public Security, are assigned to inspect, inspect and strictly punish violations. Ministries and branches are assigned to review and propose reductions in taxes, fees and charges related to petroleum to support businesses and people, and report before March 20.

The Prime Minister requested ministries and branches to clearly assign responsibilities and coordinate to implement management measures and stabilize gasoline prices. Government members soon gave their opinions on the draft to amend Resolution 36 on petroleum management for early promulgation.

Tensions in the Middle East are causing the global energy market to react more strongly than the escalation between Israel and Iran last year. In that context, gasoline prices in Vietnam – a country that depends partly on imports – are also managed differently than before. The frequency of price adjustments is more frequent, the stabilization fund is released again and many policy tools are combined to cope with global energy fluctuations.

When world prices fluctuate continuously, with the issuance of Resolution 36, the Government allows management agencies to regulate gasoline prices more flexibly, without having to wait for the full 7-day cycle. That is, as soon as the base price increases by 7% or more compared to the previous announced period, the Ministry of Industry and Trade can regulate the price the next day.

The stabilization fund tool was also used again after being “frozen” from 2023. In just half a month since the Middle East upheaval occurred, the joint Ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade released the fund 5 times. According to estimates byVnExpressafter 5 discharges, the fund spent about 1,500 billion VND. According to the announcement of the two giants Petrolimex and PVOIL, by March 12, they had spent nearly 631.2 billion VND.

Previously, the operator also considered plans to arrange reserve resources and proposed reducing environmental protection taxes to add more fiscal tools to stabilize the market. Bringing the environmental protection tax to 0 VND will help reduce gasoline prices by 1,000-2,000 VND per liter.