The national government renewed the price agreement with the fuel sector for a period of four months and in this way the companies determined that as of next Saturday the values in pumps will increase by 4%.
In a statement, the Palacio de Hacienda indicated that the agreement is part of the Fair Prices program with the oil sector, to “stabilize fuel prices.”
The agreement presented establishes a guideline for a 4% monthly increase in the prices of gasoline and diesel from April 15 to August 15. The extension was signed by the companies YPF, PAE (Axion), Raízen (Shell) and Trafigura (Puma).
The national government established that 4% as a ceiling for monthly increases. The companies agreed and will use the entire agreed percentage to update their values.
The oil companies’ argument is that in the last four months, while pump values increased by around 4%, monthly inflation was 5.1% in December, 6% in January, 6.6% in February and the private estimates speak of 7% in March. In other words, while fuel prices increased 17%, accumulated inflation was 27%.
“We understand that this requires effort from companies, the State is already making an effort to contain prices and anchor inflationary expectations so that this does not have an effect on prices and on people’s pockets,” said the secretary. of National Energy, Flavia Royon.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Domestic Trade, Matías Tombolini said: “The signing of this agreement allows us to give a signal of predictability to consumers, users and companies and, in addition, it accompanies the road map established by Minister Sergio Massa that drives us to sustain the fiscal balance and take care of the reserves”.
