Finance Minister Mario Marcel has ruled out the possibility of increasing the subsidy for electricity rates, which will rise sharply from July 1 and for which the government has asked the government to extend this bonus.
“It is only possible to increase the subsidy if we have additional resources. In other words, if there are no resources today to finance an increase in the PGU (Guaranteed Universal Pension), if there are no resources to finance daycare centers from the State, if there are no resources to finance a more aggressive reduction of waiting lists in hospitals, there would hardly be resources to expand the electricity subsidy,” declared the head of the fiscal portfolio.
He added that “everything has to be resolved through mechanisms, some of which are under discussion and others in preparation,” noting that “currently under discussion is the project on tax compliance, which would allow, in principle, to finance the increase in the PGU, the increase in investment in citizen security.”
The targeted subsidy to mitigate the impact today considers 40% of the most vulnerable households.
This increase might reach up to 50% in the bills in the coming months. It is estimated that the second highest residential consumption group, between 180 and 400 kWh per month, will be the most affected, mainly in Valparaíso and Atacama, where there will be increases of over 40% in the final bill.
Deputy Diego Ibáñez, president of Convergencia Social, said that “we must continue making efforts to control inflation and to do so, stopping the rise in electricity rates is essential.”
“All actors must make efforts, especially those who have more, and for that reason we have proposed increasing the subsidy, so that this does not impact the middle class or those who have less, through extra collection by the electricity generators, who today pay five dollars per ton of CO2, so that they now pay 10 dollars, knowing that the entire world pays regarding 30 dollars,” he stressed.
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