Portuguese Government To Lower Fuel Prices But Consumers And Retailers Say It Is Insufficient

THE price of fuel will fall in Portugal from tomorrow, Tuesday, September 26.

According to the Ministry of Finance, it will implement a reduction in the tax burden that is applied to fuels by returning part of the VAT. As a result, the cost per litre of diesel will fall by two cents and petrol by one cent.

This action comes after a nationwide outcry last week following the dramatic increase in the price of diesel. However, consumers and resellers claimed that this latest reduction is insufficient and they criticised the volatility of prices in the country over the last few months.

ANAREC called for the prices to be lowered further

Among those calling for a lower tax burden has been the National Association of Fuel Dealers (ANAREC), which stated that the price of diesel and petrol should fall even further, reported sicnoticias.pt.

Meanwhile, fuel retailers had a different proposal which involved asking the government to radically lower fuel prices to values ​​slightly lower than those practiced across the border in Spain. This move, according to ANAREC, would lead to increased consumption by motorists.

As they suggested, there have been many fluctuations in prices recently and, therefore, most consumers only refuel their vehicles when they feel it absolutely necessary to do so.

The partial suspension of the carbon tax was maintained

In addition to Tuesday’s discount on the Tax on Petroleum Products (ISP), the Executive maintained the partial suspension of the carbon tax.

Taking into account all the measures in force, the reduction in applicable taxes will now amount to a total of 25.1 cents per litre of diesel and 26.1 cents per litre of petrol.

Fuel prices are cheaper in Spain but are still increasing

Despite fuel prices being lower in Spain compared to Portugal, they are still not cheap. Last week, according to data published this Thursday, September 21 by the Oil Bulletin of the European Union, diesel rose by an average of 2 per cent. It stands at €1,668/litre, which represents the biggest price increase since the beginning of summer.

Petrol also went up by 0.92 per cent in the week between September 12 and 18. It reached an average of €1.751/litre at the more than 11,400 petrol stations across the country that are consulted to calculate the costs, again the highest level in Spain since February.

Fuel is more expensive on average in the EU, where diesel went up by 13 cents compared to the previous week, standing at an average price of €1.79/litre. That is about 13 cents above the average price of Spanish petrol stations. Petrol stands at an average price of €1,839/litre in the EU, but Spain is still nine cents cheaper.