The price at the petrol pump continues to rise; the latest update of the Fuel Price Observatory of Ministry of Business and Made in Italy reports that on Wednesday 18 March the average price in ‘self service’ mode along the national road network stood at 1.867 euros/litre for petrol and 2.103 euros/litre for diesel.
The news from the Middle East certainly does not bring any relief, with the price of Brent oil suffering as a result, now being stable above 100 dollars a barrel.
Salvini: “Ceiling on petrol prices in CdM”
Precisely to deal with the high cost of fuel, the scheduled meeting between the Minister of Transport and Transport took place today at the Prefecture of Milan Matteo Salvini and major oil and fuel distribution companies.
In addition to Minister Salvini, representatives of Eni, Ip, Tamoil, Q8in addition to the white pumps Vega Carburanti, Pad Multienergy, Retitalia, Costantin, Keropetrol, Beyfin, San Marco Petroli, Energas, Toil and Giap Holding.
“The immediate objective is to reduce prices at the petrol pump, then block the increase and block speculationhelp families and businesses and put a ceiling on the price of diesel and petrol”, this is how Minister Salvini expressed himself before starting the meeting with the oil companies
“There is a council of ministers this evening and from the next few hours, Italians who go to get petrol will pay less than what they are paying today”.
The Government’s objective is to reach an agreement to have a cap on the price of diesel “under 1.9 euros per litre”, with an overall cut of “20-25 cents per litre” also for petrol.
The no to mobile excise duties
The hypothesis of activating the mobile excise duties to control prices at the pump had animated the political debate for days, only to then be effectively set aside. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has decided to freeze the provision to start further checks on the real effectiveness of the mechanism.
The reason is mainly financial, because with the current rules and the extra VAT revenue accumulated in just ten days of crisis, the excise duty cut would not have exceeded 5 cents per litremuch less than the 25 cents guaranteed by the Draghi government in 2022, which however could count on months of fiscal accumulation.
The Minister of Business Adolfo Urso he put a clear brake on it, recalling that that measure cost around a billion a month and did not stop inflation, with the benefits going largely to the wealthier classes.
The door remains ajar, however, with the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani who does not rule out reviewing excise dutiesensuring that the important thing is not to hurry but to do well.
The alternatives
Having set aside the hypothesis of mobile excise duties for the moment, the government continues to study new interventions to lighten the burden of price increases.
The path that seems to prevail is that of targeted subsidieswith the more concrete idea that sees the extension of the “Dedicated to you” card, worth 500 euros per year, to families with ISEE up to 15,000 eurosalready used for basic food shopping.
The line indicated by Minister Urso is that of selective interventions, evaluating compensatory measures for low-income families, road transport and businesses.
On the European front, we look at EU Council of 19-20 Marchbecause a common framework on energy security and price containment could come from Brussels.
For employees, meanwhile, a tool already exists: in 2026 companies can provide fuel vouchers of up to 1,000 euros per year completely tax-free.
However, Minister Salvini has not ruled out one tax on extra profits of oil companieson the model of the banking one, a proposal which is however defined as an “extrema ratio” by the Minister of Transport himself.
