Vietnam Cuts Retail Power Price 2% and Petrol Tax to 0%: POW, PLX, GAS Impact

Overview

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng told the National Assembly on 31 October that the government is directing Tập đoàn Điện lực Việt Nam (EVN) to cut retail electricity prices by about 2% through 31 March 2027, and will allocate roughly VND4,000 billion to reduce the special consumption tax on petrol from 7% to 0% from November through year-end. The measures sit inside a broader inflation-control package targeting a 4.5% CPI ceiling, and they land directly on the revenue lines of HOSE-listed POW, PLX and GAS, alongside PET and BSR.

Key Facts

• Retail electricity price to be cut by approximately 2% from now through 31 March 2027, per the Deputy PM’s statement to the National Assembly.
• Petrol special consumption tax to fall from 7% to 0% from November through the end of the year, at a budget cost of about VND4,000 billion.
• Roughly VND64,000 billion has already been spent on petrol and oil tax and fee reductions since the start of the year.
• About VND360,000 billion has been allocated to tax and fee support policies in the first nine months, with a further VND200,000 billion-plus for social security programmes.
• Average CPI rose 4.52% over the first nine months, against the National Assembly’s 4.5% target.
• The 2% VAT reduction is extended through the end of 2026.
• Full-year GDP growth of 10% requires fourth-quarter growth of 12.5%, following 9.01% growth over nine months.

What Happened

Speaking at the close of the National Assembly’s socio-economic discussion session on the morning of 31 October, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng framed the measures as part of the government’s inflation-control toolkit. He said the government has already advanced budget funds to the petrol price stabilisation fund, cut taxes and fees on petroleum products, and extended the 2% VAT reduction through end-2026. The new commitments add a directed 2% cut in EVN’s retail electricity price and a temporary zeroing of the petrol special consumption tax.

The Deputy PM set the measures against a difficult external backdrop: world oil prices held above USD110 per barrel in the third quarter, and additional US tariffs affect roughly 70% of Vietnamese goods exported to that market. He acknowledged that hitting the 10% annual growth target requires 12.5% fourth-quarter growth, calling it a very large challenge but not an impossible task. The statements were made in the National Assembly chamber rather than through a written regulatory filing, so the implementing decisions and effective dates for each measure are not yet published.

Market Context

POW (HOSE) closed at VND12,200 on 31 October, at the low end of its recent range, and trades as a regulated utility whose tariff realisations are set administratively. PLX (HOSE) closed at VND34,000, GAS (HOSE) at VND78,000 and PET (HOSE) at VND51,100, with BSR the refining exposure in the group. The package arrives with the VN-Index digesting a high-oil-price quarter and tariff pressure on exports, and with the government explicitly prioritising the 4.5% CPI ceiling over utility margin recovery.

Strategic Significance

The electricity directive reinforces the structural constraint on POW and other generators: retail tariffs are a policy instrument, and a 2% cut extended to March 2027 delays the tariff increases that independent power producers need to justify new capacity. For PLX, GAS, PET and BSR, the petrol excise cut is double-edged. It supports retail demand and volumes into the year-end travel and consumption season, but a 7-percentage-point excise reduction compresses the tax-inclusive price base from which distributors earn margins, and the VND4,000 billion fiscal cost signals the government’s willingness to absorb energy price shocks directly rather than pass them through. The longer-term read is that Vietnamese energy pricing remains politically managed, which caps upside for regulated utilities while supporting volume-led retailers.

What to Watch

• The formal government decree or EVN decision specifying the electricity price cut and its effective date.
• The Ministry of Finance’s implementing guidance on the petrol excise reduction and its exact start date in November.
• POW’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results, and any disclosure on tariff impact.
• November and December CPI prints from the General Statistics Office, to test the 4.5% target.
• PLX, GAS and BSR fourth-quarter volume and margin disclosures following the excise change.