The government is set to extend a fuel duty cut when it expires Wednesday, government sources said Tuesday.
Currently a 17-cent reduction on diesel fuel is in force to hep Italians with the fuel hikes that have resulted from the blowback of the Iran war.
"A new extension of the excise tax discount on fuels is set to get underway.
The measure is expected to be approved tomorrow by the Council of Ministers (cabinet), coinciding with the expiration of the last mini-extension," the sources said.
Immediately thereafter, they said, the government will work to prepare a more targeted measure to support the most vulnerable social groups to combat energy costs.
The decision was made today during a videoconference meeting attended by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, and the leader of the Noi Moderati party, Maurizio Lupi.
"The goal," the Palazzo Chigi sources said, "is to prepare a measure more focused on the income groups that most need state support, thus making the intervention more effective and selective." Fuel prices have already breached the psychological threshold of €3 per litre at some motorway service stations, consumer group Codacons reported Tuesday.
It analyzed the prices communicated by operators to the transport ministry on August 24 and 25.
The highest price goes to the A22 Brennero-Modena motorway, where Supreme Diesel reached a swinging €3.159 per litre.
Elsewhere, prices have also reached extremely high levels, Codacons said.
On the A21 Turin-Piacenza motorway, for example, diesel has reached €2.729 per litre.
Extremely high prices are also recorded on the smaller islands: in Pantelleria, a litre of diesel now costs €2.799.
According to the Codacons analysis, other examples of the most expensive diesel fuel include the A4 Venice-Trieste motorway, where full-service diesel reaches €2.699 per liter; the A28 Portogruaro-Conegliano motorway, also with full-service diesel at €2.699 per liter; the A22 Brennero-Modena motorway, where full-service diesel reaches €2.659 per liter; and the A15 Parma-La Spezia motorway, where full-service diesel reaches €2.629 per liter.
Additionally, there are record-breaking prices for special diesel fuel: on the A21 Turin-Piacenza motorway, Supreme Diesel has reached €2.929 per liter, while on the A15 Parma-La Spezia motorway, Hi-Q Diesel has reached €2.879 per liter.
"No one is claiming that tomorrow all Italians will pay €3 for a liter of fuel, but the very fact that this threshold has already been exceeded at some stations should set off alarm bells," said Codacons.
"Until recently, such prices would have seemed illogical; today, they are a reality at some stations.
The risk is that, if the price hike continues, the €3 mark will cease to be an extreme exception and become an increasingly more realistic benchmark for motorists.
"This is why Codacons is once again calling on the government to implement structural measures capable of protecting motorists from price hikes, avoiding temporary measures that offer no certainty to families." Transport Minister Salvini said the government was thinking of extending excise duties for a few days, until September, adding that then he would like something more continuous and substantial.
"First, we'll extend the diesel discount and then we're thinking more long-term," Salvini said during a press briefing at the annual Rimini meeting of influential Catholic activist group Communione and Liberation, when asked about the Council of Ministers, scheduled for tomorrow.
"When asked how long the excise tax discount will be extended, he replied, "For a few days, until September, I imagine.
"Then I'd like to do something more continuous, something more substantial, and therefore we need money."
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