Commuters buy petrol at a station in Ha Noi. The Finance Ministry has asked traders to keep current petrol retail prices unchanged. — VNA/VNS Photo The Duyet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Tuesday asked traders to keep the current retail petrol prices unchanged while ensuring supply and demand balance for domestic consumption.

In a document to two fuel traders—Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) and Dong Thap Petroleum Trading Company—the ministry made it clear that they should not hike prices during this period.

The two traders on the previous day reported to the ministry about the difference between retail selling and base prices.

According to report by the Viet Nam Petroleum Association, as of May 5, the traders have suffered losses of VND144–306 per litre of petrol.

In response to the report, the ministry pointed out that petrol price in the world market was undergoing complicated changes. They pointed out that over the last 30 days, the average world prices for petroleum products were higher than the domestic prices. However, last week, the petrol price was on a downward trend.

The ministry therefore asked businesses to continue implementing solutions to save transport costs to stabilise petrol prices.

The ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade will closely observe the changes in the prices of petroleum products in the world market to adjust the domestic retail prices, which will ensure macroeconomic stabilisation.

The two ministries last month allowed fuel retailers to increase the retail prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel.

The increase was between VND130 and VND210, or between 6 and 10 US cents, per litre.

The ministry also permitted distributors to decrease mazut price because its base price is now VND61 (2.9 US cents) lower than its selling price.

This was the third time that the MoF has allowed the increase of the petrol price since the beginning of this year. — VNS