HANOI, June 8 — Vietnam is considering cutting taxes on fuel to help ease prices at all-time highs, but inflation remains under control and helped by domestic food production, its finance minister said on Wednesday.
Taxes of all kinds account for around 30 per cent of retail prices, including an 8 per cent import tax and 10 per cent value-added tax.
"Cutting fuel tax would help reduce prices and therefore cut production costs for businesses and boost growth," Ho Duc Phoc told parliament on Wednesday, without saying which taxes would be cut, or by how much.
Vietnam, a regional manufacturing powerhouse, is facing mounting inflation pressure, he said, due to heavy reliance on imported fuels, equipment, fertilisers and materials.
However, Phoc said inflation was still under control, with consumer prices in the first five months of this year having risen by only 2.25 per cent from a year earlier.
The country targets inflation below four per cent for this year.
He said domestic food production has helped offset the inflation pressure.
Vietnam is the world's third-largest rice exporter, after India and Thailand.
In April, Vietnam halved the environment tax on gasoline, and on diesel fuel and lubricants to 2,000 dong (US$0.0863 or RM0.38) per litre and 1,000 dong per litre respectively.
Retail gasoline prices in Vietnam range from 30,230 dong (US$1.30 or RM5.71) to 32,810 dong (US$1.41 or RM6.19) per litre.
— Reuters
