PM to hold price talks with petrol retailers
PM to hold price talks with petrol retailers
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he will meet with Cambodian oil retailers to further discuss the issue of setting up a flexible petrol pricing mechanism to ensure that prices at the pump reflect changes in the global market.
Speaking at the National Institute of Education, Hun Sen criticised retailers’ eagerness to increase petrol prices when global prices went up, while being slower to respond to dropping prices.
“I will meet all of them [oil retailers] directly and will ask the Ministry of Commerce to formulate a [price] calculation for me,” he added.
The Ministry of Commerce has held meetings with fuel retailers operating in the Kingdom to devise a flexible pricing mechanism that reflects global fluctuations of oil prices.
While the companies submitted their pricing structures before the Pchum Ben holiday, the ministry said it would meet with retailers individually after the holiday, and in the interim asked them to reduce prices by 100 riel as a stop-gap measure.
Bin Many Mialia, the marketing manager at PTT (Cambodia), welcomed the prime minister’s move and said that the company has decided to continue the 100 riel price drop beyond the holiday.
He added that both the government and private companies need to reach a consensus on the pricing mechanism.
“If the government wants to decide the price [by itself ] it will be against the free market [policy],” Mialia said.
Prices at petrol stations in Phnom Penh yesterday ranged from 3,700 riel for regular gasoline to 3,950 riel for premium.
