Vietnam to monitor pump prices

Vietnam’s Finance Minister Nguyen Van Ninh signed a decision to form a panel that will monitor pump prices of petroleum products, after the government allowed market forces to set retail prices for the first time. The panel will report changes in domestic retail prices to the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Finance. The panel was formed to prevent market collusion among oil traders. Vietnam currently imports 13.3 million metric tons of petroleum products, as it awaits the completion of its first refinery in Dung Quat. (May 16, 2007)