The uncertainty that exists around the price of gasoline continues to be one of the great concerns for Spanish citizens. The measures of the anti-crisis plan against the effects of the war in Ukraine, including the reduction in the cost of fuel, will expire on December 31 and it seems that the extension of some of these, such as the discount of 20 cents per liter in fuels, is not guaranteed at this time.
For the moment, the Government has not yet made a sober decision that will occur with the reductions in the price of gasoline and diesel once this date has elapsed. Everything indicates that some of these measures could be modified so that they only affect the most vulnerable sectors, although the considerable drop in the cost of gasoline and diesel in recent days could cause the Executive to put an end to these discounts.
Calviño clarifies what will happen with the anti-crisis measures
The last to sober up pronounce what will happen with the price of fuels and the other aid against the rise in inflation has been the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, during a meeting with the media before the meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels. “Obviously, our objective has been, in a first phase, to implement shock and broad-spectrum measures with a generalized impact and, little by little, try to focus on the most affected sectors, those most vulnerable groups or also the classes stockings”, indicated the Spanish politician.
It is not the first time that the Minister of the Economy has reinforced this idea of anti-crisis aid that could be allocated from December 31 to the most affected population groups. This is the most considered solution from the Government, which could maintain the discounts, but only for certain groups with low incomes. For their part, some measures of the anti-crisis plan already have an extension, such as those related to free public transport, which are already included in the 2023 General State Budget project.
Our objective has been to implement shock and broad-spectrum measures and, little by little, try to focus on the most affected sectors
Nadia Calvin
First Vice President of the Government of Spain
These statements are also in line with the warnings from different organizations such as the Bank of Spain, Airef or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which have previously insisted on the risks that maintaining these aids may entail for all the citizens. They believe that some of these, in fact, benefit families that do not really need them, since they can assume this impact on prices for rent.
Link the gas discount to rent
The Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, is also committed to imposing these discounts on those most in need. According to her, the intention is to "concentrate the effort by opening it up to those who need it the most", as well as the extension of this discount to various professional sectors and also to low-income individuals, as could happen with the discount of 20 cents per liter.
However, within the Government there are also detractors of linking this discount to the income of citizens. This is the case of the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, who ruled out this possibility, arguing that "gas stations are not qualified to act as tax inspectors." Even so, she did speak of linking this reduction in the price of gasoline and diesel to certain professional sectors.
Calviño also considered from Brussels that, despite the exchanges that these measures may suffer, the Government will continue with "the same path of reform and fiscal responsibility" for the year 2023. The intention will be to continue curbing inflation and maintaining efficiency and the reduction of energy consumption, three measures included in the economic policy guide that have "avoided the most negative scenarios".
