The government has made it official that it will temporarily slash fuel taxes after the finance minister told parliament that it is reviewing the matter. 

First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon revealed the plan on Friday when he chaired a policy review meeting in Seoul. 

He said the government will swiftly finalize details, including the scale of the tax cut and the period it will apply for, and disclose them next week. 

The vice minister said the government will also unveil ways to further lower the basic tariff on liquified natural gas imports, which currently stands at two percent, in a bid to respond to rising natural gas prices. 

Prices of South Korea's benchmark Dubai crude oil currently stand at a little over 80 dollars per barrel, the highest rate since 2018. Natural gas prices are estimated at some 35 dollars per million British Thermal Units, or seven times the average price posted last year.