The Secretary of State for Energy announced this Friday that there will be measures to mitigate the increase in the price of fuel, which next week will be 14 and 8 cents / liter for diesel and gasoline, respectively. But he deemed it “impossible” to cancel them.
“There will be measures to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices, now we have to have one thing in mind, that is, a crisis of this magnitude in all areas of fuel does not give obviously not to the government any freedom to cancel the negative effect of a crisis”, João Galamba told reporters, on the sidelines of a conference promoted by the newspaper Eco on “The war in Europe and the energy shock”, where he learned of the expected rise in fuel prices next week.
The official stressed that it is a question of “minimization, mitigation and choice of the priority sectors that must be protected”, considering that it is “impossible” to cancel the effects of the energy crisis caused by the pandemic, the drought and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. .
“It is impossible, the crisis exists and will have impacts, so it is not possible to eliminate these impacts, they can be mitigated”, underlined the Secretary of State.
João Galamba said that new measures are being analyzed and a possible reinforcement of those that have already been taken, such as the AutoVoucher, and, for this, conversations are underway with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Asked about a reduction in the charge of fuel taxes, which is around 60% of the final price, João Galamba pointed out that “the government does not appropriate taxes and taxes on fuels” and that ” they exist to finance large expenditures”. that benefit all Portuguese people”, such as schools and hospitals.
Diesel and gasoline prices will soar next week, with increases of more than 14 and eight cents per litre, respectively, following higher prices for petroleum products in international markets, industry sources say. .
According to the reference prices of the National Entity for the Energy Market (Ense), the average price of simple diesel is this Friday at 1.754 euros per liter and should, from Monday, reach nearly 1.90 euros per liter. at service stations in Portugal. , while the average price of gasoline 95 – currently at 1.795 euros per liter – will reach 1.88 euros per liter.
Thus, next week, the average price of diesel should exceed that of gasoline.
