Vietnam has decided to lower its import tax on petroleum products to 5 percent from current 10 percent, the Tax Policy Department under the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

The new tariff, to be applied 15 days after the ministry's decision on Jan. 24, is to help assist local petroleum importers which are now facing loss of nearly 133.2 Vietnamese dong (roughly 8.4 U.S. cents) per liter, since the world petroleum price still remains high, while the retail petroleum price in the domestic market is fixed by the state, the department said.

Vietnam is estimated to import 950,000 tons of petroleum products worth 440 million dollars this month, posting respective surges of 1.8 percent and 48.7 percent over last January, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, it exported nearly 1.6 million tons of crude oil totaling 640 million dollars, down 8.7 percent in volume but up 13. 7 percent in value.

To reduce reliance on petroleum imports, Vietnam last November started to construct its first oil refinery with annual refining capacity of 6.5 million tons in central Quang Ngai province. The refinery will go into operation in late 2008 or early 2009.

Source: Xinhua