"“Oil prices fall, but gasoline does not”: Mariotti Jr. lashes out at the Government"

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Mariotti Jr. questions fuel price freeze and denounces that the Government benefits from high taxes

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Santo Domingo.– The deputy of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Charlie Mariotti Paz, criticized this Wednesday the fuel pricing policy applied by the Government, asserting that there is a disconnection between the reduction in international oil prices and the cost paid by consumers in the Dominican Republic.

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During a speech in the Chamber of Deputies, the legislator stated that the Government has not fulfilled its promise to reform the Hydrocarbons Law, even though, as he said, more than six years have passed since the ruling party proposed that initiative.

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Mariotti Jr. also questioned the role of the National Congress, considering that it has acted quickly to approve loans and tax reforms, but not to discuss measures that directly impact the population’s cost of living.

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The deputy maintained that for every gallon of premium gasoline sold at RD$341, the State receives around RD$101 in taxes, while for regular gasoline it collects nearly RD$90 per gallon, equivalent to 33% of the final price.

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“Is that the famous subsidy you talk so much about?”, the legislator questioned, while describing the lack of modifications to the Hydrocarbons Law to make fuel price composition transparent as an abuse.

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Likewise, he criticized the government’s announcement to freeze fuel prices for three months, arguing that the measure was adopted amidst tensions between Iran and Israel, but that a truce subsequently occurred which reduced pressure on international markets.

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“They froze fuel prices at extremely high levels for the next three months, and the very next day a truce was announced in Iran,” stated Mariotti Jr., who also questioned the justification for the economic measures adopted by the Government under the argument of facing a crisis.

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The legislator’s statements come amid the debate over fuel prices and the new anti-crisis Law that the Executive submitted to Congress and was approved in a matter of days, with which it seeks to raise around 50 billion pesos more.

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