The National Secretary of Energy of Panama, Jorge Rivera Staff, announced this Thursday that together with government authorities, the different alternatives that could be implemented due to the increase in fuel costs are being evaluated.
“Not only does fuel use in vehicles directly impact, but also agriculture, the rest of the activities and the Basic Food Basket there, and there is a team in the Government that is analyzing alternatives and of course there are always the measures that are taken on previous occasions, specifically in 2011 and 2012 when a temporary suspension of a component of fuel taxes was made, however, we must also remember that part of the fuel taxes compensate for the subsidy that we are giving to the tank of gas that exceeds B/.100 million per year, so these are evaluations that have to be done as a team with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with the team of the Presidency, which is generally looking at the issue of the impact of inflation and within the fuel components, so they are being evaluated and we hope to be making announcements as much as possible,” Rivera explained.
He indicated that as a result of the current situation between Russia and Ukraine, it is estimated that during the rest of the first half of the year, the cost of fuel will remain high.
“We would like to say that the price of fuel is going to stabilize, but a lot depends on the result of things as intangible as the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, if there is any sign from both countries of some level of ceasefire that they are going to to have more concrete, that could send an important signal to the markets to stabilize prices, however, high fuel prices are expected during the rest of at least the semester, between now and the middle of the year, depending on the fact that It would not only be the conflict as such, but also because of the sanctions that have been applied to Russia and that this impacts its economic framework and of course its ability to export,” he said.
He added that the country is subject to the international variation that is taking place, and that they maintain the monitoring and control that all fuel stations comply with the price ceiling that has been established in Panama for fuels, which has been maintained During the last years.
“The price that all Panamanians see changing every 14 days is the price at which we import fuel, the cost of marketing in Panama and transportation freight, that is, the local components of what we pay at gas stations are 4 years old. of being frozen, what varies is the international cost in which neither Panama nor any country that imports oil products has the opportunity to influence that,” he said.
Among the alternatives to generate saving conditions, he mentioned the possibility of actions in land transport, with the vehicles that are used, the issue of public transport by drivers and users to be able to manage in some way this global impact that they have all oil-importing countries.
