MADRID (AP) — Spain on Tuesday announced a recent series of measures including scrapping valued-added tax on staple food, similar to bread and milk, and is extending rent and eviction controls to assist ease the economic crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the measures in an end-of-year speech. The federal government said it might also cut VAT on cooking oil and pasta from 10% to five%. Fish and meat products were excluded from the tax reductions.
Sánchez said the three packages of aid measures passed for the reason that start of the war in February would cost about 45 billion euros ($48 billion), including 10 billion for the newest round of measures.
He said the aim was “to guard the center and dealing classes given the rise in the fee of living, energy and food.”
Although inflation and energy prices in Spain have fallen sharply in recent months, many Spaniards proceed to suffer severely from a crisis that began with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was exacerbated by the war.
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The federal government will maintain a cut within the tax on electricity, from 10% to five%, for an additional six months as well issuing a recent check of 200 euros for people earning lower than 27,000 euros a yr. He said the check would profit 4.2 million homes.
The federal government prolonged the suspension of evictions of poor people, a measure that has been in effect for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic. It said people whose house rents are up for renewal in the following six months can seek a six-month extension on their contracts with no change within the monthly payments.
The federal government also maintained free commuter and short-distance train travel for frequent users for all of 2023. It added mid-distance urban bus transportation into the package. Fuel discounts for truck drivers were also to be continued.
The measures will take effect Jan. 1.
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