2023-06-09 02:06:36
Doubts and haste begin to overwhelm the economic ministers of the Government 45 days from the holding of the general elections and with even less time, only 20 days, to decide the Permanent Delegation what to do with the package of anti-crisis measures and anti-inflation that he launched after the war in Ukraine, and which have their expiration date on June 30. This accumulated tension has begun to crack even the more or less unitary position shown up to now in the socialist ranks of the Government, which has forced a disagreement between the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, and the Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño.
The divergence has arisen due to the prolongation of these measures. Some days ago, Calviño announced that the aid put into effect to deal with the energy crisis “has to be withdrawn in Spain and in all countries”, because “the European Commission has requested its progressive withdrawal and as soon as possible, an opinion shared by other supervisory bodies ». For this reason, Calviño insisted that the end of these energy discounts would already be justified by the high levels of storage in Europe, which lead to a “much more comfortable” situation than in 2022 with respect to energy prices.
However, Montero assured yesterday in the program Espejo Público on Antena 3 that The Government will maintain a large part of these anti-crisis reductions “if the abnormal situation in prices that has caused inflation persists.” And all this despite the decline experienced in the CPI during the first five months of the year. “The Government is not going to withdraw those stimuli that allow lower bills and, therefore, relieve domestic economies or the income statement of the business sector,” said Montero. In this situation, Government sources denied any conflict between the two ministries, since “what is being studied is which measures should be extended and which ones can be dispensed with. If any of the measures that are coming to an end needs to be extended by three or six more months, it will be done, there is no doubt. And both ministers agree on that.”
Among the discounts, aids and rebates in discord are the VAT on basic foods; the reduction in the price of passes and multi-trip tickets for public transport; the discount of 20 cents per liter on fuel for the professional transport and fishing sector together with aid to the autonomous communities and town halls for gasoline for public buses-; the VAT reduction of the electricity bill from 10% to 5% on a contracted power of up to 10 kilowatts; VAT applied to natural gas from 21% to 5%; the temporary suspension of the tax on the value of the production of electrical energy; the reduction of 80% of tolls in the electro-intensive industry; or the limitation to the maximum price in the butane gas bottle.
He discount on fuel or the price of butane already had “little run” and the measures that have to do with the electricity and gas market must be “reconsidered” as prices have stabilized in the international market, ministerial sources confirmed. Others have already been “sentenced”, especially those that are directly related to the pandemic. Such is the case of the VAT reduction to 4% for masks and to 0% for goods and benefits to combat the covid or the procedures that allow public buyers to purchase supplies and services in the shortest possible time. Those referring to the anti-eviction decree or the impossibility of laying off companies that have benefited from aid are more likely to be extended.
To finish off the differences between ministers, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, confirmed yesterday that the Government will not comply with the request of the European Commission to deactivate the aid as soon as possible and extraordinary measures implemented in the energy sector. The community authorities want the frame to begin to be dismantled this summer, but Ribera has ruled out that possibility after describing this demand as “optimistic” and confirming that it will continue beyond the month of June.
The Commission, in a report presented to the Council and the European Parliament, explains that “there is no evidence” that it is advisable to extend the interventionist measures in the electricity market beyond the month of June. However, Ribera has indicated that this document is “only a recommendation” and that the Government will limit itself to analyzing it, but has already warned that the package of measures in force will be maintained “for the moment”, the vast majority of which will not end until December 31 because “they give us peace of mind and coverage. We will be seeing by the end of the year if it is necessary to follow the recommendations of the European Commission and by 2024 leave these measures without effect, or if, on the contrary, we have to claim and raise the need for their extension.
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