The Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, explained on Monday that she is negotiating with the PSOE for the implementation of two measures to mitigate the impact of inflation. On the one hand, it proposes the bonus of public transport and, on the other, the establishment of an extraordinary tax on electricity. According to Díaz, these measures should be included in the anti-crisis decree that the Spanish government plans to extend until September 30 and which includes the 20-cent fuel bonus for all citizens. The minister considers it “incomprehensible” that gasoline or diesel are subsidized, but that the same is not done with public transport.
At the same time, Diaz says he is negotiating with the PSOE an extraordinary tax on electricity to compensate citizens for the “huge transfer” to these companies in the face of rising energy prices. “Electricity must be committed to our country,” said Diaz, recalling that it is already being implemented in many countries and that it is a recommendation of the OECD and the European Commission.
Calvin points out Algeria’s ties with Russia
For her part, First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs Nadia Calviño said Algeria said it saw the country as “increasingly aligned with Russia”. He said this this morning in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, where he also said that he hoped that Algeria would “go backwards” and considered that the important thing was to respond with “unity and determination to reverse this threat”, praising the response of the European Union in the sense that Spain is an EU country and, therefore, trade policy is common.
According to Calviño, despite the crisis, the supply of Algerian gas is guaranteed because there are long-term contracts between private companies that must be fulfilled. He also explained that the price of oil in international markets is skyrocketing and that Russia’s supply cut is in the direction of “continuing to raise the price of oil”, so the measures being taken by the country are important. ‘executive, such as the fuel bonus.
At the same time, Calviño explained that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) “is closely monitoring” whether there is an increase in the margins of gas stations to prevent public resources from being given to “thicken the margins of the distributors “.