Gasoline prices would continue to hit the cost of living in the country

The Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (Creg), announced this Tuesday, May 2, the new adjustment in gasoline prices in the country, which in some cities such as Bogotá, It’s already over $12,000.

(Expenses that are weighing the most on the cost of living of Colombians).

On average, The gallon of fuel will rise 600 pesos in the fifth month of this year, the largest increase so far in 2023.

This new increase and the projections that the fee will reach $16,000 in the medium term worry many, as it would keep inflation levels high in the country.

And it is that among the expenses that are weighing the most on the cost of living of Colombians is that of gasoline, which has risen close to $2,500 since October and would continue to rise, month after month.

(Rents and transportation will keep inflation high.)

Recently, the new Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, stated that he will respect the fiscal rule, but will review the behavior of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund, which is the real problem of the increase in the gasoline rate.

Furthermore, he added that “President Duque left us a gap of 30 billion pesos” and that for such a reason. “That’s the hole that’s healing.”

He also stated that the price of regular gasoline should reach around 16,000 pesos, although he said that this would happen gradually, over the next three years.

(Gallon at $16,000?: Gasoline will continue to rise, according to the new Minhacienda).

Given this scenario, the National Government has no plans to stop this upward trend, as it is seeking to reduce the fiscal gap that the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC) for not making the necessary increases when the prices of oil, gasoline and diesel rose in international markets.

Gasoline is one of the expenses that could be weighing the most on the cost of living of Colombians, since it contributes 0.4 points of increases, like the imputed rent, in the family basket.

In this way, within the 188 items in the basket, fuels are one of the five that contribute the most to increases.

In addition, among the products with regulated prices, the increases in gasoline would boost the levels of inflation, an evil that afflicts the country and whose ghost seems to be far from gone.

BRIEFCASE

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