The Council of Ministers has decided to extend the cut in fuel excise duties for another three weeks. According to what Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated in a press conference, the measure is implemented “with a difference compared to the past.” In the weeks concerned, a significant divergence was recorded between the increases in petrol and diesel. In fact, petrol would have risen by 6%, while diesel by 24%. For this reason, the extension was mainly calibrated on diesel, maintaining the setting already provided previously (20 cents per liter). For petrol, instead, the cut was reduced to 5 cents on excise duties, a value that essentially corresponds to about the observed percentage increase of 6% on the price.
Read more Optional electric in almost all corners to improve qualifying
The government extends the excise cut
Meloni then explained the logic of the choice: the goal would be to “block an increase that could significantly impact the daily lives of citizens.” At this stage, however, the Prime Minister showed caution in turning the measure into a stable one. With reference to economic prospects, she emphasized that she does not realistically believe “to be able to make it structural” in a context she defines as “not very easy.” Making the cut permanent would risk “using up all the resources” available until the end of the year.
Read more An avalanche of updates: all the news announced by the teams
Recalibration on diesel
Finally, Meloni reiterated her favorable position on the excise cut, also recalling the political alliance with Matteo Salvini. At the same time, she highlighted that the line adopted so far has moved in temporal steps (“three weeks, one month, two weeks”) with the idea of reading the evolution of the crisis scenario and building responses based on the priorities of the moment. For this reason, she stated that she does not feel able today to declare the measure structural “in a scenario that is not structural”. Translated: the possibility of reconsideration remains open only if the overall framework changes.
Read more GP Miami 2026, FP1: only free practice session of the weekend, starts at 18:00 – LIVE
