Less than a week before the presidential election, motorists have been flocking for a few days on Friday to take advantage of the government discount of at least 15 cents per liter for all fuels. Faced with prices that have passed the bar of 2 euros per liter on average, and among other measures against inflation, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced this discount in mid-March for April 1 and for four months.
Some contenders for the Elysée had then deemed this announcement “electoralist” or insufficient. Still, this rebate has partly helped lower prices at the pump. The price of diesel, for example, fell by 22 cents last week in France, according to official figures.
It is “never enough” but “in any case it is a very important gesture”, had defended Jean Castex on Friday during a visit to Carpentras.
Professionals expect a large influx for a few days
“We expect a water hammer during the first days of April”, indicated Friday Frédéric Plan, general delegate of the French Federation of fuels, fuels and heating (FF3C), which notably represents independent service stations. “It is a point of vigilance”, confirmed the government, which “does not exclude that here and there, there are situations with stations which are temporarily dry”.
The rebate goes up to 18 cents including VAT per liter in mainland France, a difference which is explained by the amount of VAT applied in the various French territories. It will be around 17 cents in Corsica and 15 cents overseas.
Some distributor networks add their own promotions to the extent of the government, which will devote three billion euros to it. The price displayed at the pump includes the discount. Distributors have benefited from the upstream discount, at central purchasing level, since Sunday.
The government encourages the French to seek the best prices by consulting the site prix-carburants.gouv.fr.