Spain may extend or introduce measures to alleviate inflation hit by year-end

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s government could extend some of the measures that were introduced to alleviate the impact of inflation or even implement new ones, if needed, by the end of the year, Acting Economy Minister Nadia Calvino told a news conference on Monday.

Last year, the Socialist-led government passed three major packages to ease the pain of inflation that brought total aid to 45 billion euros ($47.88 billion). It later extended some of the measures until Dec. 31, 2023.

“We will continue along the same lines, adopting the most appropriate measures at all times” to contain inflation, Calvino said, adding this would occur “between now and the end of the year”.

Spain has managed to contain the inflation surge that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – driven by soaring energy prices – better than its European peers, with levels below 3% over the summer.

The government’s anti-inflation packages have combined direct aid, tax cuts, soft loans and rent controls.

Specific measures included one-off bonuses for low-income households, tax cuts for energy bills, VAT reductions, limits on rental increases and subsidies for commuter train travel.

($1 = 0.9398 euros)

 

(Reporting by Belén Carreño; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Inti Landauro)