If approved, the price cut would last from this month through June.

VnExpress reports that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed a 10% discount on electricity rates for most households and businesses over the next three months. The value of this rate cut would equal roughly US$466 million.

According to the proposal, households which use under 300 kWh of electricity per month would be eligible for the discount. A bill for exactly 300 kWh of usage would thus be VND563,040, VND62,560 less than the same bill prior to the fee reduction.

Roughly 87% of homes in Vietnam use less than that amount of power, the news source adds.

Those households which consume more than 300 kWH of electricity are considered to be in the high-income bracket and are not eligible since they will be less severely impacted by the ongoing financial damage of the pandemic.

Businesses and factories would receive a 10% discount as well, while quarantine facilities and hospitals treating Covid-19 patients would receive free electricity.

Earlier this week, a number of businesses and agencies asked for dramatic power price reductions to offset the costs of the pandemic. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, for example, proposed cutting electricity fees by 50% during peak hours from March to May.

In March 2019, the government increased national power prices by 8.36% to VND1,864 kWh, the first such increase in two years.