The government decided yesterday to lower the import duty on diesel oil from 10 percent to zero in line with similar reductions in the import duty on gasoline, aviation fuel and kerosene, said Albert Lin (林清修), deputy minister of the Government Information Office.
Lin said the Executive Yuan would refer an amendment to the General Rules of the Customs Import Tariff (海關進口稅則) to the legislature as soon as possible.
The reductions will result in an estimated loss of NT$28 million (US$890,000) in a year, Lin said.
The decision was made by the price-stabilization task force convened by Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) and attended by senior officials of ministries dealing with economic matters.
At the meeting, the Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) projected a relatively stable increase in global commodity prices through the rest of the year.
Since international oil prices have dropped below US$120 a barrel, from a peak of US$145 a barrel early last month, a sharp rise in oil prices is not expected this year, which would help mitigate commodity price increases, the CEPD said.
The Fair Trade Commission told the meeting that its task force was established to counter commodity-price manipulation. The commission said it had sent agents to investigate price fluctuations in commodities around the country and would monitor irregularities.
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