Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag (D66) tempers the expectations of anyone who assumed that the cabinet would do more than just lower excise duty and VAT on energy. ‘The cabinet cannot do more, but I understand that it is not enough,’ says Kaag.
As before reported excise duty on fuel and VAT on energy will be considerably reduced, despite previous resistance from Sigrid Kaag. In practice this should mean a price reduction of 17.3 cents for a liter of petrol and 11.1 cents for a liter of diesel. Unfortunately, that’s it. According to Sigrid Kaag (via De Telegraaf), the situation as a result of the war in Ukraine may be uncertain for a long time to come, so price fluctuations on the fuel and energy market cannot be predicted either.
It is therefore very possible that prices will simply continue to rise and that the cabinet will not continue to compensate for this. We should just let go of the idea of a positive purchasing power image, we are simply being hit hard economically.
The annoying thing is that Kaag does not explain at all why the current measures are the only ones that the cabinet has been able to take. She could at least have explained what else people have looked at, because there will surely be more options to further dampen purchasing power.
In fact, it may put the entire cabinet in a precarious position. Because if the financial blows become even harder, everyone will naturally start to question the need for other high taxes. It all sounds a bit like the government wants to do as little as possible, while people are in danger of getting into serious trouble.
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Right away bit of bad luck they will soon be launching a thrift campaign about taking shorter showers, cycling more and putting on multiple sweaters, while people can no longer pay the bills and wait for the bailiff to visit. Is there still nothing possible by then, or is everything suddenly possible again? Count on the latter, although it may be too late by then.
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