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A:
Cutting down excise may help regulate price of oil derivatives
Belgrade,
26 March 2008
Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Popovic gave a statement concerning the postponed increase in the price of petrol announced for today and said that the government resorted to a legal solution, adding that the reduction in the excise tax could be the right solution for the future.
In an interview for RTV B92, Popovic said that Minister of Finance Mirko Cvetkovic resorted to the legal possibility to not consent to the increase right away, but to wait another seven days, because the oil price on the market has started to decrease.
The Ministry of Energy and Mining is under obligation to revise prices every 15 days, said the minister and stressed the importance of components which participate in the formation of the price of oil on the stock exchange – the dollar–dinar ratio and the costs of processing oil in refineries.
He explained that the average price of oil and the average exchange rate of the dinar are determined within these 15 days. If the price of derivatives changes by around 1.5%, it is the Ministry’s legal obligation to notify the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Services, which then have seven days to approve or disapprove of the price change.
According to him, once the derivatives leave refineries in Serbia, their price is the same as in Croatia, and over 50% of the price which citizens pay at petrol stations consists of tax and excise, that is, the money that goes to the budget.
If the price of oil continues to increase, the solution for the future which the government should consider is the reduction in excise, in order to keep the price of derivatives under control as much as possible and thus influence the inflation rate, noted Popovic.
The Ministry of Energy and Mining is under obligation to revise prices every 15 days, said the minister and stressed the importance of components which participate in the formation of the price of oil on the stock exchange – the dollar–dinar ratio and the costs of processing oil in refineries.
He explained that the average price of oil and the average exchange rate of the dinar are determined within these 15 days. If the price of derivatives changes by around 1.5%, it is the Ministry’s legal obligation to notify the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Services, which then have seven days to approve or disapprove of the price change.
According to him, once the derivatives leave refineries in Serbia, their price is the same as in Croatia, and over 50% of the price which citizens pay at petrol stations consists of tax and excise, that is, the money that goes to the budget.
If the price of oil continues to increase, the solution for the future which the government should consider is the reduction in excise, in order to keep the price of derivatives under control as much as possible and thus influence the inflation rate, noted Popovic.
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