In order to be able to lower the price at the pump, distributors will be authorized to sell at a loss, announced Élisabeth Borne. A measure effective at the beginning of December.
By NJ with AFP
© LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Published on
HAS from the beginning of December, or even on the 1ster December, distributors will have the possibility of selling fuel at a loss, announced Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, this Monday, September 18 in the show Telematinon France 2. This measure will last six months, he said.
“It will be effective from the beginning of December, I hope on the 1ster December, since the text of the law will be examined in the Assembly at the beginning of October,” he said after the announcement on Saturday by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne of such a possibility. “With this unprecedented measure, we will have tangible results for the French without subsidizing fuel,” the latter promised. Legislation will be necessary, because selling at a loss is currently prohibited by law.
“Engage everyone against inflation”
Without giving a figure on the drop at the pump so as not to “commit to a figure [qu’il] is not certain to hold”, Bruno Le Maire hopes, thanks to this measure, “to find, depending on what distributors can do, cheaper fuel everywhere in France”.
READ ALSO Selling fuel at a loss: small gas stations angry
The government wants to take this measure to combat the high price of fuel. “Overall, our method is to engage everyone, all economic players, in this fight against inflation. The State cannot bear the cost of inflation alone, otherwise it will widen the deficit,” he assured, calling on “everyone to do their part.”
Bruno Le Maire was then questioned about the price of electricity, which also has repercussions on the French wallet. The Minister of the Economy repeated that it was “out of the question” that prices would increase “by 10 to 20%” in 2024, as the president of the Energy Regulatory Commission mentioned last week. Emmanuelle Wargon. “I am unable to tell you if there will even be an increase in January, it will depend on electricity prices,” declared the minister, adding that at worst “10%, that could be the ceiling”.
He recalled that the State will pay, in 2024, 10 billion euros “to pay for part of household electricity” and that it has already “protected them to the tune of 90 billion euros with the shield on gas and electricity.
