Orange with Media Services, published on Tuesday, September 06, 2022 at 10:50 a.m.
The scheduled end of the tariff shield in its current form, scheduled for the end of the year, will lead to increases that the executive wishes to “smooth as much as possible”.
In line with remarks made this weekend by the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal, Bruno Le Maire confirmed on Tuesday September 6 that all French people would continue to benefit in 2023 from an attenuated form of “tariff shield” on gas prices and electricity. “We are not going to build a gas plant: it will be the same principle for everyone”, guaranteed the Minister of the Economy. Early 2023, “there will be an increase for everyone in the price of gas and electricity, which will be as contained as possible, to the extent that our public finances allow us”.
Since the fall of 2021, the “tariff shield” and government rebates on the price of fuel have cost no less than 24 billion euros, according to a recent figure from Bercy. “We will continue to protect our compatriots against soaring energy prices”, assured Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday. “If there was not this protection, the electricity bill would increase in January 2023 by 120 euros per month and the gas bill by 180 euros per month”, he added.
The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire also indicated that the question of expanding the number of beneficiaries of the energy voucher “will be part” of the discussions with the Parliament on the draft budget for 2023. This device, intended to mitigate the shock of energy inflation for the most modest households, is today perceived by “six million people” and its amount reaches on average “150 euros”, recalled the minister on BFMTV/RMC. “Will parliamentarians decide that it has to affect more than 6 million people, that we have to go a little beyond? That will be part of the discussion with parliamentarians when examining the budget “, advanced the number 2 of the government, which only has a relative majority in the National Assembly.