A 17-cent discount on diesel fuel only, until August 6th . This is the measure to combat fuel costs approved today by the Council of Ministers, after diesel prices skyrocketed, reaching nearly 2.20 euros per liter in Sardinia. There is no discount on gasoline, which, even on the island, is very close to 2 euros.
The Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti illustrated the decree, for which resources of 125 million have been allocated: «On August 4th – he explained – a Council of Ministers is scheduled to evaluate the evolution of the situation, obviously monitoring the international situation and prices, to see what to do after August 6th».
No tobacco measures, a possibility floated today: "The fuel decree will be funded partly by mobile excise duties, partly by antitrust fines, and partly by the Fund for Structural Economic Policy Interventions . We're waiting until the beginning of August to use the funds accrued in July."
A cut that "doesn't solve the problem, but it's timely," claims Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni . "International tensions are once again driving up fuel prices, and with them, the cost of everything that travels on the road. Faced with this increase, which we didn't determine but must manage, we decided to act immediately: today the Council of Ministers approved, by decree, an immediate cut in diesel fuel, the fuel that weighs most heavily on transportation, agriculture, and the prices every family pays. We know it doesn't solve the problem. But it's a timely and responsible response, taking into account the limited resources we have and an ever-evolving international situation," she wrote on social media.
«Inappropriate cut»
"They've given birth to a mouse," Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union , cut short. "A late and insufficient intervention, an inadequate reduction. If it was right to diversify the discount between diesel and gasoline, as we've been asking for since March, it's obvious that not discounting gasoline at all is shameful, given that today on the highway it's selling for €2.071, the highest price since the Middle East crisis erupted on February 28, a record not seen since September 29, 2023. As for diesel, considering the average prices released today by Mimit, tomorrow, assuming constant industrial prices, self-service diesel on the highway will drop from €2.255 today to €2.084, while on the road network it will go from €2.185 to €2.014 ." In both cases, diesel will remain above 2 euros and you will save just 8 euros and 54 cents for a full tank of 50 litres."
(Unioneonline)
