VINACHEM

The Government has issued a decree requiring local fuel trading enterprises to ensure the interval between two price adjustments should be at least 15 days, or five days longer than allowed by existing regulations.

The new decree, which replaces Decree 84/2009/ND-CP, states that fuel trading firms are permitted to revise up prices in a minimum interval of 15 days and adjust down prices in a maximum interval of 15 days, according to the Government portal chinhphu.vn.

The new decree clarifies when the base price drops, fuel traders must lower their retail prices within a maximum of 15 days and report their decisions to the ministries of industry-trade and finance. When the base price picks up within 3%, they can adjust their retail prices accordingly and submit documents to these ministries.

In case the base price goes up more than 3% to 7%, enterprises should write to the ministries seeking approval for their fuel price hikes. If the base price increase is more than 7% and impacts on socio-economic aspects, the ministries will report to the Prime Minister.

Fuel trading firms are allowed to set their wholesale prices. However, they should help stabilize prices on the market in line with current regulations and will get support from the Government in return.

The new decree says fuel trading firms should make price adjustments transparent, based on market principles and in line with instructions of the Government.