Based on the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) that about 45,000 fishing vessels are lying ashore, the Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has recently signed Official Letter No.3822 to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính, proposing to use the budget to support fishers and underprivileged people affected by high petrol prices.
In the official dispatch, the Minister of Industry and Trade said that over the past time, the ministry has coordinated with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to use the fuel price stabilization fund to manage and stabilize domestic gasoline prices.
Besides, at the request of the Government, the National Assembly Standing Committee also reduced the environmental protection tax on gasoline and oil products to curtail domestic gasoline price hikes.
However, measures to regulate and stabilize domestic gasoline prices over the past time have only limited the increase of this commodity in the face of too large fluctuations in global gasoline prices.
From January 11, 2022, to now, a liter of gasoline and oil of all kinds has increased by an average of 26.73-67.96 percent, while the global price has risen by 44.3-91.47 percent.
Minister Nguyễn Hồng Diên said that gasoline prices are still at a high level, affecting inflation control and production activities and people’s lives, especially low-income people and fishers, who are forced to narrow production and business activities and daily expenses.
Therefore, the MoIT proposed the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs to lead and coordinate with the MoF, the MARD, and the People’s Committees of provinces and cities with fishing activities to review, balance, and allocate the State budget to make up for the increase in gasoline prices compared to the beginning of 2022 for the type of gasoline used by fishermen, to support and encourage fishers to restore their activities to go to and stick to the sea. The support period is from the policy issuance to the end of 2022.
For low-income people, the MoIT also proposed the PM direct the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs and the MoF urgently research and issue social welfare and support policies to reduce difficulties for them in the context of high inflation.
According to the official dispatch from the MARD to the MoIT and the MoF, from December 2021 to now, gasoline and oil prices have continuously escalated, so 40-55 percent of fishing vessels out of a total of 91,716 fishing vessels across the country are lying on the shore. Demand for gasoline and oil for fishing activities averages about 330 million liters per month, while the price of diesel 0.05S, the main fuel for fishing vessels, has surged by 65 percent. Diesel oil was only VND17,579 per liter on December 25, 2021, but rose to VND29,020 per liter on June 20, 2022, an increase of VND11,441 per liter.
Therefore, fuel costs to ensure normal fishing activities increase by about VND3.77 trillion per month. Due to the increase in fuel prices, prices of other commodities for fishing activities climbed by about 10-15 percent, leading to an increase of 35-48 percent in input costs. Meanwhile, the price of seafood went up insignificantly.
VFM
