Government postpones electricity, gas and fuel hikes scheduled for May

The government defined that in new growth electricity and gas bill As confirmed, it was scheduled for May. infobae A senior source in the economy ministry. “There has been no increase in May. We want to strengthen the fall inflation And we are doing well with the surplus,” he said.

This is the postponement of the monthly indexation mechanism that was defined Secretary of Energyled by Eduardo Rodriguez ChirilloTo avoid real delays in the income of distribution and transportation companies. The same will happen with the update of fuel tax (ICL), with the impact of 8% which was assessed to be divided into two sections as this media speculated, but this will no longer be in effect.

Tonight, the Government confirmed that it will publish a decree in the Official Gazette giving a corresponding update date of the fourth quarter of 2023 of the taxes on fuel and carbon dioxide for unleaded gasoline, virgin gasoline and diesel. Till June 1, 2024.

In terms of energy rates, in re And this Enargas They have not yet published the rate tables corresponding to the month starting this Wednesday. Official sources told this medium that the magnitude of the increases and how they can be implemented are being evaluated following strong increases of 200% in electricity and over 300% in gas, including water (209%). Was added together. Public transportation (410%) during the first quarter.

“It will happen, it may just take some time,” the Energy Ministry commented through the medium.

The sectors were informed what increases they should receive based on polynomial formulas defined after the latest rate update: they will be 10.7% for electricity distributors, 12.5% ​​for gas distributors and 12% for gas transportation . Economy Minister, luis caputo, he is the one who will have the last word when applying the increase. Companies included –Transnor, Transaba, Adnor, Adesur, TGN, TGS, Metrogas, Naturaji, Camuzzi, etc.– They expected a transfer of around 5% in the final invoice.

Sector sources said infobae The suspension of this formula is “a bad sign” and could again put the payment chain at risk, as happened with the freeze during the management Alberto Fernandez, What happens is that transporters and distributors have to pay Camesa for the energy they buy from generators. Since May, it was expected that this “cycle” would begin to move, a generalization that is now in danger.

In this framework, generators are seeking about US$2,000 million from Cammesa so far this year. In this Ministry of Economy He says the consolidated debt is $500 million and he had to take charge of the October and November payments of the previous government.

This is not the first time that the government’s economic team has decided to postpone growth so as not to have an impact on inflation.

, The removal of subsidies, planned at the beginning of the year, was applied only to high-income users, industries and businesses. For example, 2 out of 3 residential users pay less than 10% of electricity costs Basic Energy Basket (CBE) It will be launched in June only. The gas increase planned for February only happened in April. meanwhile, amba bus ticket Currently, according to the plan, there will be no increase in it in May and there will be more subsidy for companies.

In the case of energy, distributors also expected that new seasonal energy prices would be published in the Official Gazette before the end of April. Electricity, There was no news and, as the media found out, there would be no news in the short term.

There it was to be defined whether the electricity costs that low (N2) and middle (N3) income residential users pay (which covers less than 10%) would increase or whether it would increase in N1, businesses and Will be covered by the increase. Industry.

Going forward, more factors will add pressure on rates. The government knows that they cannot step down on subsidy payments indefinitely, beyond the fact that it is one of the main items to be cut to strengthen the fiscal surplus in 2024. At present, progress in removing subsidies for electricity and gas is not happening as expected. Planned by Secretary Chirillo.

This is the implementation of Basic Energy Basket (CBE) Which was earlier expected to take place in April and then postponed to May, is now scheduled for June or July. Details will be published in the Official Gazette in the coming days. If everything remains the same, 7 out of 10 users will continue to pay less than 10% of the actual cost of energy consumed.

As soon as he was able to rebuild infobae The reason for the delay, from official sources and the energy sector, is the difficulty of cross-referencing the data needed to determine which households will continue to receive aid on their ballots. The Chief of Staff works to establish perfect harmony, nicholas pauseand Economy Minister, luis caputo,

The Treasury Palace roadmap provides for a reduction of 0.5 points of GDP in spending on fare subsidies this year, to which another 0.2 points of GDP will be added for AMBA transport. The bill is between US$2,500 and 3,000 million. But as the social situation worsened he had to look for a different calibration in adjustment.