Fuel tax relief set to run to March 2027, Keravnos says
The finance minister wants the reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel extended past its November expiry, and pushes back on claims that VAT receipts are fuelling inflation.
Drivers in Cyprus could keep paying less excise duty on motor fuel, with the government planning to ask the cabinet to renew the reduced rates beyond their end-of-November expiry — possibly out to March 2027. Finance Minister Makis Keravnos announced the intention on Wednesday, as Cyprus Mail reports, speaking to reporters at the Presidential Palace after the weekly cabinet session.
Keravnos used the same briefing to reject the idea that swelling VAT receipts amount to inflation quietly raising the tax burden. Higher collections, he argued, follow from stronger household spending — and that spending exists because people have money left over, which he said social policy is deliberately shoring up.
The minister also credited accumulated reserves and a falling public debt with keeping Cyprus at investment grade and giving the state room to absorb surprises; he cited spending on the foot-and-mouth outbreak and the Limassol district wildfires as costs that had not been in the original budget. On prices, he said the energy crisis across Europe will keep inflation drifting upward, and welcomed the ECB's decision to hold rates.
"We are constantly thinking about additional measures," Keravnos said.
What it means for residents
The fuel excise cut is one of the few direct levers that shows up at the pump, so its renewal matters more to most households than the budget arithmetic behind it. The catch is timing: the current reduction runs out at the end of November, and until the cabinet formally signs off, nobody should assume December prices will stay where they are.
- Fill up before the deadline. If the renewal stalls, the first days of December are when the higher duty would bite — a full tank before then costs nothing extra.
- Keep an eye on the cabinet. The decision is expected in the coming weeks; once it is taken, the finance ministry's announcements are the place to confirm the new end date.
- Expect inflation talk to continue. With energy costs still elevated across Europe, the minister's own forecast is for prices to keep creeping up, so budget for it.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
