Throughout Europe, different measures have been imposed to alleviate the effects of inflation on the lowest incomes, from help those who travel by car to work, even discounts on fuel, as has happened in Spain. On January 1, 2023, the 20-cent discount that is currently applied to all fuels will be history because its validity ends on December 31, 2022. What will happen from then on? Only the Government has the answer to this question and they will speed up the year that is ending to reveal it: we will have to wait for the “last day” to find out what happens with the 20 cent discount.
This was confirmed by María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance and Public Function, this week in RNE when he explained that the Government will rush “until the last day” to announce its decision on the subject. Waiting, he pointed out, is not a whim: they want to run out of time to continue evaluating the behavior of the oil price. Depending on it, they will maintain or withdraw the universal bonus of 20 cents in the new package of anti-crisis measures.
price drop
The gasoline and diesel price curve accumulates several weeks of moderation and falls. Today, the average price of 95 gasoline is 1,575 euros, while diesel costs 1,652 euros. These are figures that we have not seen at pumps for many months: not surprisingly, on April 1 (at which time the 20-cent discount came into force), a liter of gasoline had a price of 1.819 euros and that of diesel it was 1,854 euros.
The Government established this universal aid at a time when the increase in fuel prices was “significant”. In the first place, it was launched until June 30: when that date arrived and taking into account that the situation had not improved, it was extended until December 31. There are ten days left until it ends and, for the moment, there are only rumors about its future.
Will it stop being a universal discount?
The Minister of Finance and Public Function has indicated that the Government wants to wait until the last week of the year to “have the capacity to see if, indeed, what these prices mark advises the maintenance or withdrawal of this aid”. And it is that in the agenda of the Executive is especially marked December 29 because, that day, they intend to approve a new package of anti-crisis measures in an extraordinary Council of Ministers.
María Jesús Montero has confirmed that they are evaluating “different possibilities” for the discount of 20 cents, which will depend on the expected evolution of prices in the wholesale markets for the next quarter: both the price of energy and the price of a barrel of oil would be included here. The truth is that the predictions for 2023 are positive: they believe that the Spanish economy will be one of the fastest growing and, even, GDP could increase by 2.1%.
Rumors suggest that the Government will eliminate the universal nature of the discount to apply this 20-cent bonus only to those who need it most: families with the fairest income and the sectors that work in transportation would be included here. According to The countryIn the second case, the way of lowering the price of fuel would be modified: it would form part of the usual refund of professional diesel that takes place at the end of the month.