Energy policymakers will keep the domestic retail price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) unchanged despite the decline in global LPG prices.
The price will remain at 23.96 baht per kilogramme even though global prices have fallen by US$12 per tonne.
Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee said the global LPG price had declined to $407 per tonne from last month's $419, which should reflect a drop of around 12 satang per kg in the domestic price.
"We have decided to put that falling margin into the state gas fund so that it can help stabilise the price when the global price of LPG goes up again if the world economy recovers," he said.
The levy from LPG to the fund will rise to 1.07 baht per kg, up from 95 satang in June, increasing the total levy to 314 million baht a month. The gas fund has about 7.4 billion baht in hand, well below the 40 billion in the oil fund.
The Energy Ministry set up the gas fund separately from the oil fund in March in order to eliminate the country's universal subsidies, which collected high levies from oil users to be used in subsidising gas prices to benefit gas users.
The move ended the state's cross-subsidy of the LPG price, which was implemented in 2001.
The LPG price had been gradually floated since September 2013 and became completely floated in March.
Mr Narongchai said global oil prices could decline further this year, due largely to the gloomy economic outlook that was likely to trim demand, while prices of other energy sources, coal and liquefied natural gas, were more competitive.
"We may have to consider floating all gas prices if global oil prices decline for the rest of the year," he said.
The Energy Ministry will continue with its plan to raise excise tax on LPG in the transport sector in order to make it fair for all motorists, especially oil consumers who pay more tax than gas users.
Since LPG prices were floated, imports of LPG had halved to 93.3 billion tonnes per month by May, compared with an average of 182 billion tonnes for the whole of 2014.
Mr Narongchai said the ministry would increase the price of compressed natural gas to reduce distortion if the current retail price of 13 baht per kg was still lower than the real production cost of 15 baht.