Vietnam fuel price sees 8th straight drop

Retail gasoline prices in Vietnam slipped by VND450-630 ($0.03) a liter on Wednesday, the eighth consecutive decrease since the beginning of July and the lowest since the beginning of the year.

Retail gasoline prices in Vietnam slipped by VND450-630 ($0.03) a liter on Wednesday, the eighth consecutive decrease since the beginning of July and the lowest since the beginning of the year.

A gasoline station in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of Vietnamnet newspaper.

The prices of RON95 and E5 RON92 gasoline fell by VND630 and VND450 to  VND22,580 and VND21,780 ($0.92) a liter, respectively.

Diesel oil dropped by VND1,650 to VND22,530 ($0.95). Kerosene also declined by VND1,970 to VND22,440 ($0.94) a liter.

Retail gasoline prices in the country have witnessed 24 adjustments in the year to date, including 13 hikes and 11 reductions.

The National Assembly on July 6 adopted lowered environmental taxes on fuel, applied from July 11 till the year-end, amid globally increasing oil prices that put pressure on inflation.

The tax cuts - the second this year after the first in April - are expected to help the Vietnamese economy better navigate a global situation in which oil prices have soared.

Vietnam's consumer price index in the first eight months of the year rose 2.58% on average against the same period last year. Fluctuations in consumer prices are mainly caused by food and gasoline costs.

The World Bank on August 8 put Vietnam's inflation forecast at 3.8% in 2022 due to higher prices of energy, lower than the State Bank goal of 4%. The figure is expected to rise to 4% in 2023, before subsiding to 3.3% in 2024.

The ADB on Tuesday said the country's inflation is anticipated at 3.8% in 2022 and 4% in 2023, adding that all figures are the same as in the report released in April.