Mr Tuyen made the affirmation at an online press briefing in Hanoi on April 20 in response to growing public concern about unreasonable petrol price hikes when petrol businesses are allowed to fix prices under a decree adopted by the Government on April 6, 2007.
According to the decree, as of April 4, 2007 petrol businesses were allowed to fix prices based on global oil prices, import tariffs and other fees. The new prices must conform to State regulations and generate proper profits to assist businesses in their reinvestment, development of production and other trading activities.
The decree is applied to all petrol import-export businesses and those engaging in oil production and processing activities.
Several petrol importers said customers will benefit from the new decision while some others were concerned about the competitiveness, transparency and management skills of petrol businesses.
Mr Tuyen said at a meeting on April 19 the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Finance allowed petrol businesses to fix prices in a way that the new prices do not cause any large fluctuations on the market. However, he affirmed that the two ministries will control price hikes at reasonable levels to avoid negative impacts on the consumer price index (CPI) set by the National Assembly. Accordingly, CPI was set to be lower than GDP while the Prime Minister set a target of keeping CPI below 7 percent.
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