Vietnam Electricity (EVN) has announced that electricity consumers will see a price hike on their next bill of 4.5 percent, Saigon Giai Phong is reporting. This is the second time electricity prices have gone up this year.
For context, last year EVN reported a loss of US$1.5 billion with rises in fuel costs vastly outstripping the electricity retail price which is regulated by the government. Increasing the electricity price, however, is unpopular with consumers and also puts upward pressure on inflation which the government has been keen to avoid. That said, power shortages this year were also unpopular.