Vietnam Power Price Review: Party Secretariat Signals Cuts, POW in Focus

Overview

Trần Cẩm Tú, Standing Secretary of the Party Secretariat, told a National Assembly group discussion on 18 October that electricity prices should be adjusted down rather than up, and only raised where new costs arise. He said the Tổng Bí thư and Chủ tịch nước have asked the Government to review and adjust power tariffs, with inflation to be held below 4.5%. The remarks matter for PV Power (POW, HOSE) and the wider EVN-linked utility complex because they set the political tone for the next retail tariff decision.

Key Facts

• Trần Cẩm Tú, Standing Secretary of the Party Secretariat, spoke at a group discussion session on the morning of 18 October on socio-economic conditions.
• He said the Tổng Bí thư and Chủ tịch nước are directing the Government to study and review adjustments to electricity prices.
• His stated preference: “tốt nhất là điều chỉnh xuống chứ không được điều chỉnh lên, trừ khi phát sinh chi phí tăng” — best to adjust down, not up, unless costs rise.
• Inflation must be kept below 4.5% regardless of the growth rate achieved, he said.
• Essential goods named for close price supervision include petrol and oil, electricity, and water.
• He said the Party and Government are pushing to lower lending rates, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• He called for urgent policies to resolve land and capital constraints for private enterprises.

What Happened

Speaking at the 18 October discussion, Trần Cẩm Tú framed electricity pricing as part of a broader inflation-control effort. He argued that growth loses meaning if prices climb, and asked for tighter scrutiny of essential goods including fuel, power and water. On fuel, he said well-managed operators should pass through price cuts, and that the State must intervene where they do not. He then turned to electricity, stating that the Government is working to manage and regulate the power sector in order to reduce prices.

The remarks were reported from the session rather than from a formal pricing decision. No specific tariff level, implementation date, or adjustment percentage was disclosed. The Standing Secretary also addressed lending rates and private-sector bottlenecks, saying the Party and Government are directing efforts to reduce borrowing costs for businesses, especially SMEs, while acknowledging the difficulty of that task. He urged faster action on land and capital constraints, warning against rhetoric that is not matched by delivery.

Market Context

PV Power (POW) trades on HOSE and closed at VND 12,200 on 18 October, the session on which these comments were reported. The stock sits in the utilities and energy segment, where earnings are sensitive to the regulated power price framework, input fuel costs, and hydrology. The remarks arrive as the Government balances a growth push against a sub-4.5% inflation ceiling, a combination that historically constrains administered price increases for electricity. The article does not provide a specific tariff decision, so the immediate read-through is directional rather than a quantified earnings change.

Strategic Significance

For long-term holders, the key question is whether the review produces a tariff path that allows generators to recover costs. A directive tilted toward cuts, qualified only by the “unless costs rise” caveat, suggests the burden of proof sits with cost pass-through rather than with automatic indexation. That matters for POW’s thermal and hydro portfolio, where fuel and depreciation costs are largely fixed in the near term. The parallel push on lower lending rates is a partial offset, easing financing costs for capital-intensive generation assets. The policy signal also reinforces the political priority of inflation control over utility margin recovery.

What to Watch

• The formal Government or Ministry of Industry and Trade decision on retail electricity price adjustment, including any percentage change and effective date.
• Any EVN cost-recovery filing or input-cost review that would satisfy the “phát sinh chi phí” condition cited by the Standing Secretary.
• POW’s next quarterly earnings release, for commentary on realised power prices and input costs.
• State Bank of Vietnam policy moves on lending rates, given the explicit call for lower borrowing costs.
• Inflation prints relative to the 4.5% ceiling, which will condition the room for any tariff change.