Vietnam electricity prices to jump 7.5 pc

Vietnam electricity prices will rise 7.5 percent from March 16 to cover mounting losses at the state-owned power provider.

March 07, 2015 | 13:32

Vietnam electricity prices will rise 7.5 percent from March 16 to cover mounting losses at the state-owned power provider.

Vietnam electricity prices to jump 7.5 pc

A worker repairs an electricity facility (Photo: VNA)

The decision was made o Match 5 at a meeting between government leaders, and officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and other relevant ministries and agencies.

As a result, electricity prices will rise to more than VND1,600 a kilowatt hour.

The price hike is expected to help Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) cover mounting losses, while ensuring a GDP growth rate of 6.2 percent for 2015 and hold inflation at about 5.0 percent.

EVN estimates it will post a loss of VND12trn in 2015 if electricity prices remain unchanged.

It requested the price rise so it could increase its business efficiency by lowering the power leakage rate to 8.0 percent in 2015 from 8.49 percent in 2014.

Dtinews.vn