Farmers, ranchers, fishermen and transport professionals will enjoy a 20-cent bonus for each liter of fuel they use in their vehicles, whether they are trucks, buses, ambulances or vans. The objective is to alleviate the sharp price increase that these sectors are enduring due to the consequences of the war of the United States and Israel against Iran.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has detailed this measure after the extraordinary Council of Ministers in which a package of 5,000 million euros, articulated in 80 initiatives, aimed at mitigating the impact of the conflict on the Spanish economy, has been given the green light. The plan will come into force tomorrow, once it is published in the BOE.
“All of them are sectors that are being very affected and are very important for our productive fabric. These discounts are activated to weather this crisis and to contain, of course, as much as possible, the prices of the shopping basket,” the head of the Executive has pointed out.
Along with the 20-cent reduction in fuels, agricultural professionals will be able to opt for aid of the same amount for the acquisition of fertilizers, another of the inputs made more expensive by the war and which can affect the final price of products such as oil.
On fuels, an additional VAT reduction will be applied, which will go from 21% to 10%, the minimum allowed by the European Union. Although this tax falls on the final consumer, Sánchez has estimated that this tax cut alone will mean an additional saving of up to 30 cents per liter, which translates to around 20 euros per vehicle.
Beneficiaries of the anti-crisis measures
The president has estimated at “to the 20 million households” and three million companies the number of direct beneficiaries of the set of measures to face the economic repercussions of the war in Iran, which contemplates 80 actions and will mobilize 5,000 million euros.
Within this anti-crisis plan, Sánchez has also advanced a strengthening of the powers of supervision and sanction of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), in order to prevent companies that receive public support from “profiting” from these aids.
In recent weeks, agricultural organizations have denounced the “speculation” they were suffering from various companies after the sharp increase in the price of agricultural diesel, demanding the intervention of Competition to stop abusive practices and the serious harm they were causing to their farms.
In this regard, Sánchez has warned that “companies will be severely punished” that, being beneficiaries of the aid, take advantage of the situation to enrich themselves with this crisis or with public resources “that citizens pay with their taxes.”
“It is money that citizens pay with their taxes and must return in full to them. Therefore, I believe that a Government and the competent authorities, what we cannot tolerate is that, out of pure greed, some try to profit from this war,” the president stressed.