On the last day of December the government-subsidised discount on fuel (diesel/gasoline) expires but does the Prime Minister intend to extend it into 2023?

Well, although no official confirmation has appeared in the State Gazette (BOE) top government posts have confirmed that the discount on the litre will continue, but not as a blanket discount, as it has been up to now.

Both the Bank of Spain and the EU have warned the Central Government that they cannot continue to supply “Cafe para todos,” which is a political term here to cover everybody benefiting from government subsidies, especially those that do not need it. The warning comes both because it can’t really be legally justified and, of course, the nation’s coffers cannot keep this rate of spend up.

So, according to the Minister of the Economy, Nadia Calviño, the subsidising of fuel costs will continue for certain sectors (transport, for example) and for families with stressed incomes.

Now, the problem with the latter, as the Minister freely admitted, is that you can’t ask gasoline station operators to act like tax inspectors when it comes to filling up your tank, because they obviously don’t know what people’s tax returns indicate. That’s out, logically. Could the system be based on the price of your car; large cylinder, expensive-to-buy, vehicles are excluded?

The Government has yet to detail how they intend to implement such discount for low-income families but what they have confirmed is to include the free-public-transport packages that are already in place, for example? It is an indication of your financial situation, perhaps.

Anyway, we shall see closer to the end of the year.

(News: Spain)