Portugal’s Minister of the Economy appealed this Friday to the civic-minded nature of those Portuguese living near the border with Spain, asking them to fill up in Portugal as the government needs the money.
Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral said that those filling up in Spain, where fuel currently is more than 30 cents cheaper, are depriving Portugal’s Treasury of tax revenue and that this is "bad" for Portugal’s public accounts.
Caldeira was visiting the Technology Centre for Portgal’s textile and clothing industries in Vila Nova de Famalicão when he made the astute observation that to finance public services we must pay taxes.
The minister noted the concerns of fuel retailers situated near the Spanish border, and the concerns of the National Association of Fuel Dealers, as both have expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the border populations go and fill up in Spain, putting local Portuguese filling stations in a "difficult situation."
"I call on people to avoid filling up in Spain, because this means they are paying taxes to Spain instead of paying taxes to Portugal, even with lower prices. For the public good, people should avoid doing this," said the minister, ending his lecture in the basics of price-sensitive commodity purchasing.
On Monday 14th March another fuel rise came into to effect with pertrol in Portugal now 35 cents more expensive than in Spain and diesel 31 cents more costly. Correio da Manhã estimates the Treasury is losing €1 million a day from people filling up over the border.
