Filling the tank is increasingly more expensive, but not only due to increases in fuel prices, but also due to the slow readjustment of salaries. In the last twelve months, gasoline has risen at an accelerated rate, much greater than that of salaries, forcing buyers to spend less or migrate to cheaper versions.
To better understand this situation, it is useful to analyze what happened with both variables (salaries and fuel) in the last year. Starting with income, the latest data published by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) show that workers’ income rose, on average, 200.4% between February 2023 and the same month of this year.
In that same period, the liter of super gasoline in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) It went from $163.10 to $744, registering a total increase of 356.16%, that is, 155.7 percentage points more than salaries.
How does this difference impact consumers’ pockets? The differences are enormous and that translates into a lower ability to buy fuel. If we take as reference the Average Taxable Remuneration of Stable Workers (Ripte) It is found that in February 2023 with a salary ($218,543.91) you could buy 1,340 liters of super gasoline. In February of this year, however, an average salary ($619,007.05) was enough to buy only 832 liters of that product, that is, 508 liters less.
The same calculation can be made taking into account the cost of a tank of fuel. Taking a common car as an example, with a 50-liter tank, it is found that in February of last year each tank cost $8,155 (with super gasoline) and in February of this year the total value jumped to $37,200. Thus, a salary a year ago was enough to fill the tank 26.7 times and this year it is enough to only fill 16.6 tanks.
Starting May 1st, a new update of the liquid fuel tax (ICL) that the oil companies –YPF, Shell, Axion and Puma Energy– will be transferred to the supplier. The increase in prices of naphtha and the gasoil will be at least 8% in the event that the tax increase contemplates the inflation complete of the fourth quarter of 2023, as originally planned, to which could be added the devaluation monthly 2% applied by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) and the path to international values that companies in the sector took.
As far as he could know Infobae From official sources working on the issue, the Government does not rule out that this 8% increase will be applied in two sections divided between next month and June so as not to add greater pressure to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the Indec. Once the pending transfers for 2023 have been resolved, the possibility of postponing new tax increases will be studied, which will depend on the evolution of the indicator in April and May.
If the 8% increase is realized, super gasoline will go from the current $837 to about $904 and premium gasoline will go from $1,033 to $1,115. For its part, common diesel will stop costing the current $883 and will be worth $953, while premium diesel will have an increase from $1,123 to 1,213, taking into account the cheaper prices found today at CABA outlets. . Of course, each station manages its own prices, depending on the flag and location, so you can find countless price configurations throughout the country.
