The government today guaranteed a cut in fuel prices in the coming weeks, which are already below pre-war levels in Ukraine following supply chain problems, despite the reduction in tax aid.
“What the evolution of fuel prices will happen in the next few weeks is there will be a fall in fuel prices and so those prices will continue to fall,” which is a “drop in support” by some of the executive, said Finance Minister Fernando Medina.
Speaking to the Portuguese press at the end of the meeting of European Union finance ministers in Stockholm during the Swedish presidency of the Council, the official stressed that fuel prices are “already below pre-war levels”, so there will be a reduction in diesel and petrol tax rebates and an update of the carbon tax, as “the environmental component was suspended due to the fuel tax”.
Still, this update “will always be done in such a way that prices, in this case, continue to fall, although they fall a little less than they could,” said Fernando Medina.
Asked about the evolution of fuel prices, the minister assured that the authority “always evaluates the trajectory”, so this will be taken into account if the markets rise.
“We are monitoring the situation closely. At all times, we must concentrate support on those areas that are becoming more important,” concludes Fernando Medina.
On Friday, the Treasury Department announced that the Petroleum Products Tax (ISP) rebates will be reduced to 30 cents per liter of diesel and 31.6 cents on gasoline from the current 34 cents in May, and that the carbon rate will be reduced. gradually updated.
In a statement, the guardianship explained that the reference price of diesel and gasoline is currently below the price that justified the initial mitigation measures at the ISP level and that fuel consumption in the first quarter of 2023 reached the record of the past decade.
In addition, he stressed that fuel excise duty in Portugal is “significantly below the weighted average” of the eurozone.
The Ministry of Finance thus explained that “the government will gradually unfreeze the update of the addition on CO2 emissions [taxa de carbono]”, indicating that in this way it is pursuing environmental objectives and is gradually aligning the weight of fuel excise taxes in Portugal with the average of the Eurozone.
“Taking into account the measures in force, the reduction in the tax burden in May will amount to 30 cents per liter of diesel and 31.6 cents per liter of petrol,” he added.
Source: DN
