Vietnam considers rule change allowing loss-making EVN to raise power prices
A worker fixes electricity grid in Vietnam's southern Mekong delta city of Can Tho, August 23, 2015. REUTERS/Kham/ File Photo
HANOI :Vietnam is planning to tweak its regulations to allow state utility EVN to adjust retail electricity prices to cover its losses, which stood at nearly $1.5 billion at the end of last year.
The rule changes are aimed at "easing difficulties for EVN and ensuring national energy security", the government said in a statement late on Sunday.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is now seeking opinions on the proposed reform, it added.
EVN, the country's key power generator and sole grid operator, reported accumulated losses of 38.68 trillion dong ($1.47 billion) by the end of 2024, despite making a modest profit during the year.
It said the company incurred the losses as a result of geopolitical uncertainties and rising fuel costs.
The central bank governor Nguyen Thi Hong warned of inflationary risks earlier this month, noting that adjustments to the prices of electricity, medical services and housing had piled more pressure on input costs, driving up core inflation in recent months.
EVN last raised its average retail electricity price by 4.8 per cent in May. The average price has increased by 17 per cent since 2023.
($1 = 26,280 dong)
