A massive drop in global fuel prices can already be felt at Vietnam’s petrol pumps where topping off your tank will cost you significantly less than it did a few months ago. But even though the country has made 12 consecutive fuel price cuts since July, many local taxi and bus companies have no plans to lower their fares.

While low oil prices have hurt Vietnam’s coffers, the effects seem to be overwhelmingly positive. After the latest government fuel price cut last Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that inflation would stay under 3% in 2014, the lowest since 2003.

Economist Ngo Tri Long said that while, “there will be big, positive changes in consumer prices by Tet…the government has to supervise price reductions at businesses which operate largely on fuel, such as transportation, manufacturing and offshore fishing.”

However, many such firms told Thanh Nien that there were no plans in the works to do so.

“Tuong Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Mien Dong Bus Terminal said only around 80 of the nearly 220 companies operating at the terminal have cut prices since fuel began getting cheaper in July,” Hai told the paper, adding that, “most of the cuts were only five to ten percent.”

Economists, including Nguyen Minh Phong, feel that since petrol prices are now at their lowest point in four years, the government should ensure that transportation companies adjust their prices accordingly.

“The Transport and the Finance Ministries need to stop this nonsense,” Phong said.

While government ministries seem to be heeding this advice – last Tuesday the Finance Ministry asked the Transport Ministry and local authorities to push companies to drop their prices in accordance with recent price cuts – current financial penalties, which top out at VND30 million, may not be high enough to be compel them to do so. 

[Photo via Raphaël V]