Lhe government will try to limit the rise in fuel prices. In an interview given to Parisian, Saturday March 12, Jean Castex announced the implementation of a discount of 15 cents per liter of gasoline, valid for all French people. The rebate, which will apply “on all fuels”, will be implemented from April 1, and for a period of four months. “This means that for each 60-litre tank, you will save 9 euros”, detailed the Prime Minister, referring to a measure which should cost the State two billion euros.
The reduction will apply to payment, at the cash desk or directly by credit card at the pump, and will therefore not be visible at the entrance to the stations. If the State will then “reimburse” the distributors, Jean Castex called on them, just like the “oil companies”, to make themselves “an additional gesture”. “How would the French understand that they pay a full tank of diesel at 2 euros, while at the same time the oil companies are still making big profits,” he wondered. “If the State makes an effort of 15 cents per litre, and if they make an effort of 5 cents, for example, it is indeed 20 cents that must end up in the pocket of the French”, further urged the Prime Minister. .
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Assuring that professionals were indeed concerned by the measure, Mr. Castex sent an additional message to fishermen, whose “fleet of boats” is “very fuel-consuming”. “We are working with communities on measures to lower their social and port charges,” he announced.
In an attempt to stem the effects of the continuous rise in energy prices for months, aggravated by the invasion of Ukraine, the government has already taken a battery of measures: blocking the price of gas, limiting it to 4 % of the increase in electricity, exceptional energy check, inflation allowance for 38 million people, or even an increase in the scale of mileage allowances. A set of decisions weighing more than 20 billion, according to Mr. Castex, who must also unveil next week “an economic and social resilience plan” in the face of the consequences of the war.
Asked about a possible clientelism trial, less than a month before the first round of the presidential election, the head of government argued that the price of fuel had become “the first concern of the French”. “Do you see me telling them Move along, nothing to see ! because there is an election in less than thirty days? It is not my conception of my responsibility, ”he said.
The return of Covid?
Jean Castex also announced the opening of the fourth dose of vaccine “to over 80s who have received their booster dose for more than three months”, in the face of the slight rebound in the Covid epidemic. The Prime Minister also said he strongly recommends “to people who are fragile because of their age or their pathologies to maintain the wearing of a mask in closed places and in large gatherings. »
Conceding that there was currently a “recovery of cases”, Mr. Castex however ruled out “changing strategy”, when most restrictions must be lifted on Monday, such as the vaccine pass. “The scientific council, which I have requested, tells us that it is above all the BA2 sub-variant which is at the origin of this rebound” epidemic. “It’s more transmissible than the original Omicron, but it doesn’t seem more dangerous,” he explained to the Parisianrelying on the fact that “the hospital pressure, which remains our justice of the peace, continues to drop”.
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