The Spanish left-wing government announced on Tuesday the abolition of VAT on basic necessities in order to compensate for the sharp rise in prices, as well as aid of 200 euros for the most modest families.
During the next six months, “VAT will drop from 4% to 0% for all basic necessities”, such as bread, milk, cheese, fruit, vegetables or cereals, said the Prime Minister socialist Pedro Sanchez during his last press conference of the year.
These announcements are part of a new series of measures worth 10 billion euros. This brings the total cost of the government’s fight once morest inflation to 45 billion euros, said the chief executive.
These new measures are centered on food products, whose rise over one year reached 15.3% in November.
Aid of 200 euros
The other shock measure adopted on Tuesday during the last Council of Ministers of the year concerns the establishment of “aid of 200 euros” for families whose income is less than or equal to 27,000 euros per year, in order to “compensate for the rise in food prices”.
On the other hand, the rebate of 20 centimes per liter of fuel which all motorists currently benefit from will be reserved, from 1 January, for the “sectors most affected” by inflation, namely transporters, farmers, maritime companies and fishermen,” said the Prime Minister.
Limiter l’inflation
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Spanish government has multiplied aid to try to contain inflation, which has exploded throughout Europe.
After peaking at 10.8% in July, its highest level in 38 years, the general rise in prices has gradually slowed to stand at 6.8% in November.
However, the drop has not yet affected the food sector, where prices continue to rise.
afp/mera
