Calviño confirms that fuel aid will continue to be general and denies that the gas cap has failed

He specifies that the oil companies will also be affected by the additional tax on electricity companies and denies a "shock" within the Government

MADRID, 22 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs and for Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, confirmed this Wednesday that the fuel bonus will be maintained until September 30 in a "generalized" way because "it is the most effective".

"When applied to the entire population, the CPI immediately drops. It is one of the most effective measures that we have put in place and we are going to continue in that direction," the vice president told Antena 3, reported by Europa Press.

In this way, Calviño has settled the debate on whether the fuel bonus, currently 20 euro cents per liter, should take into account income, as requested by Podemos, or remain as it is: for the entire population. Ultimately, it will remain widespread.

On whether the reduction in VAT on electricity from 10% to 5% announced today by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, means recognizing that the cap on the price of gas in Spain and Portugal has been a failure, the vice president has denied this extreme and has underlined that it is working, since the price of electricity in Spain is below that of neighboring countries.

"It is being very effective, but the international situation generated by the war is evolving and we continue to take measures to protect citizens and companies. The war at the gates of Europe is not a joke and we have to take measures as the war unfolds. international stage", he explained.

Thus, Calviño has specified that the news of the last week "is not positive", since the cut of Russian gas and oil has caused gas futures to rise by 40%. "And that is why this is the time to lower VAT even more so that we can continue to cushion the impact of prices in Spain," he added.

The vice president did not want to confirm whether the extension of the anti-crisis package that will be approved on Saturday will include bonuses for public transport, as United We Can demand, and has limited herself to indicating that she is working on a set of measures that still have to be "assessed" between now and Saturday.

"All the measures we take are going to be based on a serious evaluation of their effectiveness and also looking at the measures that countries around us are putting in place that work and which ones may be necessary in the new scenario," he assured.

Calviño has recalled that they are also working on a tax on energy companies and has denied that there is a "clash" within the Government regarding this issue.

"We absolutely agree that we have to have a fair distribution of the impact of this war, that we have to tax the windfall profits of energy companies, and this includes oil and electricity companies. In fact, we have already taken measures to tax them and we are going to continue along that line," he asserted.