VINACHEM

HA NOI (VNS)— The Ministry of Finance has told fuel wholesalers to limit their use of the price stabilisation fund from VND300 to VND200 per litre.

The decision was announced in Dispatch No14239/BTC-QLG on fuel price management, in which the ministry said it would keep fuel prices, import tariffs and deductions for the price stabilization fund unchanged.

Currently, the reference price of gasoline is VND24,084 per litre, while the retail price is around VND23,880 per litre.

Similarly, each litre of diesel and kerosene is now sold for VND22,310 and VND22,020, while their reference prices are VND22,902 and VND22,934 respectively.

For diesel, the ministry has permitted fuel wholesalers to continue earning commissions of VND100 per litre and charging VND300 per litre to the price stabilisation fund, to limit price increases.

Petrol hubs selling kerosene are expected to retain earnings of VND100 per litre and reduce the use of the price stabilisation fund to VND700 from VND800.

For mazut, traders will continue to take VND200 per litre from the fund.

The price stabilisation fund was reported to be sitting at VND58.6 billion (US$2.7 million) at the end of September, after rising over VND 3billion ($141,911), the Ministry of Finance stated on its website.

According to the latest statistics, of the 12 petrol dealers who contributed to the fund, six of them had a positive fund balance. Petrolimex's September balance stayed over VND205 billion ($9.7 million), while the Military Petroleum Corporation with over VND180 billion.

Meanwhile, as of September 30, PVOil reported a negative fund balance of more than VND209 billion ($9.88 million), while Petec Trading & Investment Corporation also saw a loss of over VND145 billion ($6.86 million).

Recently, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung stated that the ministry would publish data on a quarterly basis rather than each month, to minimise costs to relevant agencies. — VNS