Fuel Pass 2: From the end of July, the platform

The Ministry of Finance plans to launch the online platform for the new fuel card (Fuel Pass-2) for the July–September quarter, which will apply to more than 3.1 million car and motorcycle owners out of a total of 3.5 million.

Elaborating on the measures announced by the prime minister, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras stated that the gasoline subsidy will apply to individuals (and self-employed professionals) who are tax residents of Greece, with a declared income of 30,000 euros for the 2021 tax year, which is increased by 3,000 euros for each household member, up to a maximum of 45,000 euros.

Specifically, if the beneficiary uses the digital card to receive the subsidy, the amount for the quarter in mainland Greece will be 80 euros (with a bank deposit of 65 euros), compared to 45 euros for the previous subsidy. For island regions (including Crete), the amount is 100 euros (85 euros if deposited into a bank account), compared to 55 euros.

For motorcycles, the fee is 60 euros (45 euros for a bank account) compared to 35 euros. Specifically for island regions, the fee for motorcycles is 70 euros (55 euros for bank transfers). In general, when using the digital card, the subsidy increases by 15 euros, compared to 5 euros previously.

According to the minister, the subsidy is 0.44 euros per liter for mainland Greece and 0.56 euros per liter for the islands. He estimated that the 180 liters of gasoline subsidized per quarter correspond to 600 kilometers of driving per month. Meanwhile, with the subsidy, the price of gasoline will drop below 2 euros per liter. The total cost of this measure amounts to 200 million euros.

At the same time, the subsidy for diesel fuel will continue for the next quarter at 0.12 euros per liter, or 0.15 euros per liter including VAT. The cost amounts to 115 million euros.

Some examples cited by Thanos Petralias, Secretary General for Fiscal Policy, are as follows:

For 60 liters of fuel per month, after the subsidy,

-In Attica, the price of gasoline will drop from 2.40 euros per liter to 1.96 euros per liter. Diesel fuel will drop from 2.06 euros per liter to 1.62 euros per liter.

-In the Dodecanese, the price of gasoline will drop from 2.55 euros per liter to 1.99 euros per liter.

-In the Cyclades, the price of diesel will drop from 2.22 euros per liter to 1.66 euros per liter.

Finally, in August—rather than November—full-time farmers will receive a refund, upon submitting a request via the relevant platform, the excise tax on diesel fuel they purchased during the first half of the year. The cost of this measure is 60 million euros.

In total, the cost of the three measures amounts to 375 million euros, with funds drawn from improved budget execution in May. Meanwhile, by the end of the year, a total of 8.5 billion euros will be allocated (to provide support for the costs of fuel, electricity, natural gas, etc.) totaling 8.5 billion euros, of which 3.2 billion euros will come from the budget.

As Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis noted, there are three reasons why the government can support households and businesses. Strong economic growth (an 8.3% increase in GDP last year), higher public revenues driven mainly by growth (a surplus of 2.1 billion euros in the first five months), and the strong performance of the tourism sector.

Homer Emmanouilides