Deputy Carlos Bianchi (Independent-PPD) said that the Government is leaning towards the Frente Amplio initiative to increase the subsidy for electricity rates, which will rise sharply as of July 1, through an increase in the tax on coal.
Bianchi, president of the House Finance Committee, met last day in Punta Arenas with the Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, and said that the Government would opt for the proposal to increase the tax on coal generators.
“What the minister is doing is accepting all the proposals that come in. Textually he said: ‘I don’t care what color the cat is as long as it catches mice’, and he is open to all proposals,” said the former senator.
However, he pointed out that the proposal that he “repeated the most – and the one that I believe the Government is moving forward with or is going to stick with – is a proposal from the Broad Front, which increases the carbon tax.”
“With this calculation, Pardow’s aim is to go from 1.5 million households to 3 million (subsidized) households,” he explained.
Yesterday, the head of Energy referred to the request to extend the subsidy and stated that “to the extent that we are able to agree on other resources, we will be able to increase that number. I believe that the political will to expand this coverage exists in all areas of the Government. The point is in the income.”
Likewise, President Gabriel Boric said during his visit to the Magallanes Region that “today, as a result of the freezing of rates from 2019 onwards, a debt of 6.5 billion dollars has accumulated. That is a lot, a lot, a lot of money. And the experience I have had in the Government is that debt that is not paid is more expensive.”
#Government #evaluates #subsidizing #electricity #bills #taxing #coal #Discusión
