The Government will expand the benefit in the price of gasoline for Melo
A strip will be created more than up to 60 km, with a 15% discount with the prior approval of the Legislative Power.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Professor Martín Vallcorba, announced in Melo that the Executive Power will send to Parliament a bill to extend the Discount regime in the IMESI to gasoline in border areas.
Currently, current regulations set a 30% reduction for service stations located 20 kilometers from the borderline. The initiative that will be sent to the Legislative seeks to expand the territorial scope of that benefit up to 60 kilometers of border, which would allow Melo and other cities.
In this case, the planned discount would be 15% on the price of gasoline, with the aim of balanceing competitiveness against the lowest values that govern the Brazilian side and relieve the impact on consumers in the region.
Vallcorba stressed that it is a measure that responds to a historical demand of the border departments, and that the government expects its parliamentary approval in the short term to be able to apply it.
Vallcorba highlighted in Melo the positive impact of differential measures on the price of gasoline on border
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Professor Martín Vallcorba, visited the city of Melo on Wednesday, where he highlighted the good results of the measures applied by the Government in relation to the price of gasoline in border areas.
Vallcorba recalled that last July it was decided to increase the return of the IMESI in the purchase of fuels, from 24% to 32% in all border departments with Brazil. The decision was made, he explained, depending on the price reality of the neighboring country, with the aim of matching competitiveness and strengthening the commercial activity of the Uruguayan side.
The results, he said, have been “Very positive.” In that sense, he informed that the sales of gasoline in stations located within 20 kilometers of the border – where today the maximum benefit of 30% discount governs – grew on average 35% in recent months.
When comparing August 2025 with August 2024, the undersecretary stressed that there is a 57% increase in fuel sales in those locations, which shows that the measure contributed to recover market and reduce the leakage of consumers to the Brazilian side.
The hierarch also announced that the Executive Power will send to Parliament a project to extend the benefit up to 60 kilometers of border, which would include cities like Melo. In that case, the discount would be 15%, although at the local level it is understood that the reduction should be located in the 20%environment.
“We are working for these tools to accompany people and strengthen the commercial cycle on the border, with measures that already show specific results,” Vallcorba pointed out.
“Jumps so marked in the price generate inequities and even incentives for informality”
During his visit to Melo, the Undersecretary of Economy and Finance, Martín Vallcorba, explained the reasons why the Government will send to Parliament a bill to expand the benefit in the price of gasoline from the current 20 kilometers of border to a radius of 60 kilometers.
Vallcorba said that the measure responds to a long -standing claim of localities such as Melo, which until now were not understood in the differential regime. “What happens is that today we go from a discount of 32% to zero in an abrupt way, and that generates very marked leaps in the price of fuel within the department itself,” Indian.
According to the hierarchy, this situation brings serious problems of competitiveness and inequities among neighboring towns. As an example, he mentioned that consumers choose to move to the stations included in the benefit, which distorts the domestic market and encourages informality situations.
“While border measures with Brazil have had positive results, we also begin to see that these jumps generate incentives for what we call ‘internal border’, with negative impacts for shops and for the collection itself,” held.
The project, which seeks to extend the IMESI discount to a radius of 60 kilometers with a 15% benefit in locations such as Melo, aims to correct these inequalities and balance the conditions.
“It is a way of responding to a legitimate demand of the border departments, avoiding distortions and strengthening formal economic activity,” Vallcorba stressed.
