Government must continue the fuel subsidy measure

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas

 

2 April 2024, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The increases in fuel prices due to the government’s termination of the subsidy are exerting even more pressure on the vast majority of society. AKEL calls on the Christodoulides government to reconsider its position and continue the fuel subsidy as a small relief for households, working people and small businesses.

If what the Christodoulides government announced a few days ago is the best it can do to tackle inflation/price increases, then it obviously doesn’t understand what is really happening and people’s everyday life.

Of course, what Mr. Christodoulides and his government know very well is that the state coffers, primarily because of the price hikes/increases, are filled with revenues that exceeded 1.5 billion in 2023 alone.

That Cypriot banks are recording unprecedented record profits.

That energy companies are accumulating tens of millions in windfall profits by exploiting the situation in the energy sector. So the possibilities do exist, but the government refuses to make use of them.

Mr. Christodoulides and his government should tell us how and why taxing the exorbitant profits of the banks and energy companies AKEL proposes cannot be implemented, since this is already being applied in other European countries.

As for the taxation of energy companies’ windfall profits in particular, Mr. Christodoulides should remember that he himself supported doing so during the election campaign.

The truth is that these proposals are neither unworkable, nor do they serve any electoral considerations. To put it simply, the Christodoulides government’s concern, rather than society’s, is that the exorbitant profits of the banks and big energy companies should not be touched.