Vietnam proposes electricity price hike to address growing cost

HANOI (Xinhua): The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed an electricity price hike in 2024 in an effort to address financial challenges faced by Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

The suggested price adjustment aims to provide the EVN with a sustainable revenue stream for its power plants' operation and more accurately reflect the group's input costs, Vietnam News reported Monday.

The newspaper quoted Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang as saying that a comprehensive review of prices was required to ensure alignment with the dynamic input parameters and secure funding sources for power plant investors.

Despite two adjustments to the average retail electricity prices last year, the EVN continued to report losses from electricity production and business for the second consecutive year.

By the end of 2023, the group reported a consolidated pre-tax loss of approximately 17 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$697.2 million), 9 trillion dong (US$369 million dollars) lower than the figure of the previous year. - Xinhua