The Ministry of Finance on April 20 issued an import tax rate guide for certain commodities such as petrol, kerosene and diesel oil.

Among them, tax rates for imported petrol will be reduced by 3% (from 20% down to 17%), while kerosene and diesel oil will be cut by 5% (from 15% down to 10%).

The new tax rates will apply to all Custom declarations beginning April 21.

It was reported that the world petrol prices are still increasing significantly. However, with the new tax rates, petrol businesses will still lose about VND 1,000 (USD 5 cents) per litre. Currently, in the Singapore market, RON 92 petrol is priced at USD 89.16 per barrel; 0.05S diezel USD 93.66 per barrel; kerosene USD 92.66 per barrel; and mazut USD 481.18 per tonne.

Reduced import tax rates is expected to inhibit the increase of petrol prices on the market.