HANOI: The retail price of petrol was sharply cut by VND590 to reach a five-year low of VND15,442 (68 US cents) per litre at 3pm yesterday. The ministries of industry and trade and finance also sent a document, asking petrol traders to lower the price of the E5 RON 92 biofuel by VND580 to touch VND14,759 (65 cents) per litre.
The price of diesel also dipped by VND912 to reach VND10,207 (45 cents) per litre, while the price of kerosene came down by VND886 to reach VND9,388 (41 cents) per litre.
The price of mazut fell by VND301 per kilogram to touch VND7,245. The ministries said the average price of a barrel of petrol was $48.6 in the last 15 days, lower than $51.5 in the previous fortnight.
That was the reason why the ministries had kept the price stabilisation fund as well as the taxes and fees unchanged, while reducing the retail prices, they said. Earlier, a representative of a petrol trader in the southern region had said the domestic retail prices could be slashed by VND400 to VND500 per litre if the factors of taxes, fees and the stabilisation fund remained unchanged.
The last price adjustment had been done on January 4, when the petrol price fell by VND370 to reach VND16,030 per litre. The price of E5 RON 92 was also reduced by VND571 to touch VND15,339 per litre. Last year, the retail price of petrol was cut 12 times and increased six times.
