Chile's President Kast Caps Fuel Rises: 40 Pesos a Litre This Week, Bill Sets 20-Peso Ceiling for 90 Days
Chilean President José Antonio Kast announced a package of fuel price curbs in Santiago on November 9: this week's rise will be held to 40 pesos a litre, the lowest value allowed under the current mechanism, and the government will send Congress an urgent bill capping any increase over the next 90 days at 20 pesos a litre, for both petrol and diesel.
The Ministry of the Interior's official release that day recorded the president's own words. Kast said fuel price rises affect all Chileans directly, shopkeepers, every family and transport workers alike. Monitoring prices through the MEPCO fuel price stabilisation mechanism, the government would first bring this week's increase down to the technical minimum the mechanism allows, 40 pesos a litre, which he said would bring very real relief to citizens.
The second step is legislation. The president said the government will present a bill under urgent discussion so that any rise in the next 90 days does not exceed the 20-peso ceiling, for petrol and diesel alike. The bill needs congressional approval to take effect, and the government hopes to move it forward this week.
International oil price increases have fed through into Chile, and repeated fuel rises have pushed up transport and living costs, forming the immediate backdrop to the move. The ministry's release also quoted the president saying there is a social urgency today, and that the government is addressing it responsibly, taking care of everyone's resources and directing scarce resources to the most vulnerable and needy.
For Chinese shopkeepers and transport workers living in Chile, two things now matter: whether this week's 40-peso rise lands as announced, and how the 20-peso ceiling bill progresses in Congress. If both hold, fuel costs over the next three months will have a predictable ceiling.
(Source: Ministry of the Interior of Chile)
Source: Ministry of the Interior of Chile
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：智利总统府莫内达宫，位于圣地亚哥。照片：César Lara Pizarro，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源。 / Photo: La Moneda Palace, the seat of the Presidency in Santiago, Chile. Photo by César Lara Pizarro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
