Inflation, Codacons: “it will be a hot autumn, discount on petrol excise duties will not be enough”

Codacons considers the measures of the bis aid “completely insufficient. The tangible risk is that of a hot autumn in terms of prices, tariffs and consumption. And if prices rise again, there is the possibility of a collapse in household spending. , with immense damage to trade, industry, employment and the economy “says the consumer association. “In the scenario in which we find ourselves, energy bonuses and discounts in bills, – underlines in a note – suspension of the unilateral changes to the contracts for the supply of electricity and natural gas until October 31, 2022, extension to September 20 of the cut in excise duties on gasoline and diesel fuel and the other measures adopted, it is not even clear, in the first place, the reasons for the substantial optimism expressed by the government regarding the country’s economic situation “. For the Association, the “painful” points relating to the decree are obvious: Fuels. Faced with the unbridled growth of the pump price lists recorded in the last year, simply extending the discount on excise duties is not enough. Despite the reduction in excise duties already in force since March, today a liter of gasoline costs 13.4% more than in the same period of 2021, while diesel is increased by 22.6% on an annual basis. An escalation that has repercussions not only on fuel costs, but also on the retail prices of a multitude of products, throwing, it should be said, fuel on the fire of inflation. It would therefore have served – as requested by many – a more incisive and direct intervention at the source on the definition of fuel prices, characterized by evident speculations and schizophrenic price lists that do not follow the trend of oil. Inflation and VAT on food. Since inflation continues to represent the main emergency in the country, with prices that also in July recorded record increases, loudly – alarmed by the data that show how Italians are cutting back on food and food spending – we asked to insert the abatement of VAT for primary goods in the decree, in order to determine an immediate reduction in retail prices and protect the pockets of families in this moment of emergency. Energy and bonuses. Past experience shows that the disbursement of bonuses did not help the economy and did not bring benefits on the consumption front. The 200 euro bonus, extended in the Aid Bis Dl to those excluded from the first credit, is totally useless if not accompanied by effective measures to safeguard purchasing power in the long term, and to say it are the numbers: in 2022 due to of record inflation, a “typical” family faces an increase in expenditure equal to +2,457 euros per year, a sting that rises to +3,192 euros per year for a household with two children. In the face of these data, it is clear that the only way forward was that of a structural containment of prices, through measures capable of reducing price lists and tariffs and bringing electricity and gas bills back to acceptable levels, also by resorting to administered tariffs: a path that has been chosen not to follow, leaving millions of Italians at the mercy of inflation and speculation. “At a time when even summer holidays seem to have become a luxury for very few, there is – for Codacons – nothing to celebrate regarding the performance of our economy and the future prospects. The hope is that the new government will have the legitimacy and the courage to finally intervene effectively, to protect the pockets of millions of Italians bled by an increasingly unsustainable economic situation “.