The government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has confirmed this Friday that the anti-crisis package that the Government will approve in the last Council of Ministers of the year will have measures to contain the rise in food prices and will review the fuel discounts that start to end, next December 31. The Executive is working against the clock to be able to carry out these initiatives, which are intended to cushion the effects of the escalation of prices in the pocket of consumers.
Inflation, which has moderated four points since the maximum in July and is situated in Spain at the lowest level in the entire European Union, continues to be at 6.8% in November in the annual rate, according to the National Institute of Statistics , and in the case of food it remains shot up at 15.3%. In an interview with TVE, Rodríguez stressed that the Government continues to work for next Tuesday, December 27, and that these actions are pending completion.
As the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, has already pointed out, in the case of the bonus of 20 cents per liter of fuel, it is expected that it will no longer be generalized and that it can only be accessed by the same specific sectors. Specifically, the Executive is studying how it can modify it so that the sectors most directly affected by the increase in fuel prices, such as carriers, continue to benefit from it.
Regarding the shopping basket, the speaker also confirmed that in the new aid package to alleviate the economic and social consequences caused by the war in Ukraine that will be approved by the Council of Ministers there will be measures to curb the rise in the price of food. Europa Press advanced on Thursday that a VAT reduction that affects certain foods, such as fish, could be being considered to reduce it from 10 to 4%.
“There is a problem that we are all observing these days, preparing dinners and meals with our families and approaching supermarkets. We see that, indeed, the shopping and food basket is rising and that may have problems for the economies relatives”, recognized Rodríguez. For this reason, he added, the Government is preparing concrete actions that will be detailed on Tuesday and that it has not wanted to reveal as they have not yet been completed.
He has stressed, however, the importance of the agriculture and livestock sector and has ensured that it has a clear presence in the government action to “protect this primary sector for which we have also worked over the years to guarantee at least the cost of production by the Food Chain Law”.
It has confirmed that the third anti-crisis package will approve measures to help deal with the effects of the war and that they will extend or replace those currently in force and whose validity ends on December 31. Asked if there will be a referendum in Catalonia, she stated that “of course not” and noted that the Constitution does not allow it, while pointing out that the Government can boast of having always complied with the law and the Magna Carta.
