The First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calvino, It has been opened this Wednesday to extend state aid for regional and local transport, beyond its initial expiration date of June 30. After knowing the announcement of the president of Madrid, Isabel Ayuso, that the regional government will extend until the end of the year the 60% reduction in the price of monthly subscriptions of public transport and 50% of the multi-trip titlesCalviño has responded – to questions from journalists – that the Government, as planned, will maintain “the bonus of all the public transport that depends on the Stateor” throughout 2023, “and we will see to continue supporting those measures that allow alleviating and lowering the cost of transport in the field regional and local“.
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Calviño has avoided being forceful in his response, but he has left the door open to extend this measure to support public transport, which, otherwise, will expire on December 30. On June 9, he already anticipated the Government’s willingness to extend beyond June 30 the VAT reduction on some foods that came into force on January 1 for the first half of the year. The vice president has not yet given clues about the bonus of 20 cents per liter of fuel that still exists for companies and self-employed workers, although in his interventions he usually refers to the fact that fuels are already cheaper than before the war in Ukraine. The Government must approve before the end of the month a decree with the measures against inflation that it decides to extend beyond June 30.
Given the rise in energy costs derived from the war in Ukraine, on September 1, 2022, the Government’s measure to encourage the use of public transport was released, with a 30% state subsidy. The government urged the communities and municipalities to support the measure with additional discounts from their own budgets. With a view to 2023, the central government extended the 30% discount for public transport in autonomous communities for the first half of 2023, only to those autonomous communities that committed to extending the discount to 50% of the price. Madrid expanded it to 60%. On June 12, when asked if this measure would be extended, Isabel Ayuso He indicated that he was waiting for the central government to make the decision. “We will make a decision about the price of transport when the Government does, taking into account that this was a matter of two,” he summarized then. This Wednesday the Madrid president has advanced her decision to continue supporting public transport. the vice president Calvino has welcomed the support of the PP for what he has defined as “a star measure” of the Government. “It is good news that the PP, finally, understands that the support for free public transport that we have launched from the Government of Spain is a star measure because it supports the pockets of Spanish families in the current context of inflation and I support the use of a more sustainable, cleaner transport for the future”, he said, before participating in the delivery of the National SME Award at the Chamber of Spain Headquarters.