HCMC – The National Assembly Economic Committee has proposed the Government address issues in fuel trading, as inadequacies in Government Decree 95/2021 on fuel trading and pricing management have surfaced after a year of the decree being in force.
Though fuel prices have been put under control and supplies secured over the past seven months, gas stations have kept shutting down one after another, leading to fuel shortages in some localities, the committee said in its report submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee at a recent meeting.
It attributed the cause to the current pricing mechanism, saying it does not follow fuel market movements, disabling local retailers to maintain business as the low discount cannot compensate for operation costs.
Besides, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s band-aid measures – revoking fuel trading licenses of traders that suspend operations without justified reasons – resulted in fuel stations limiting their sales volume as a countermeasure.
The fuel price stabilization fund made it challenging to read the market movements, and there may exist some irregularities in tapping the fund. However, removing the fund may make local fuel prices surpass global fuel prices, the committee noted.
