A family will spend $118,825 in May to pay for electricity, gas, water and transportation

The funds intended to finance, in the form of subsidies, the operation of public transportation and electricity, gas and drinking water bills. fell 40.8% in the first quarter of the year. The “chainsaw” in this important chapter of public spending is the other side of the rate increases that companies, businesses and so-called “high-income” households are paying above all.

For the case of public transport In general, the real pruning (that is, discounting inflation) reaches 39% in the period January-April 2024 compared to the same quarter of 2023. In the case of energy, the pruning was 40.7%.

In the case of motor transport subsidies, they grow 159.7% in nominal terms but fall 30.5% in real terms.

These data were uploaded to the Rates and Subsidies Report prepared monthly by the Rates and subsidies observatory from the Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy of Buenos Aires IIEP UBA CONICET. The report reflects the impact of what is known as “relative price correction”, that is, the elimination or reduction of the arrears of public service rates.

The consequence of the new rate tables is that, according to this report, in May an average household in the AMBA, without subsidies, spends $118,825 pesos on the month to cover their energy, transportation and drinking water needs at home. This expense increased 15.6% compared to the previous month.

The AMBA’s basket of public services includes the consumption of electricity, natural gas, drinking water and public transportation. In this sense, it reflects the average cost of public services for a representative household in the AMBA. For electricity and natural gas, a N1 household is taken (higher income) and for drinking water, a household with the average zonal coefficient of the CABA is taken.

With the observed increases, rate coverage, estimated as the weighted average of the costs of public services in the AMBA at the expense of the user, is 37% in the month of May. That is, the provision of public services in the AMBA for all high, medium and low-income households pays rates that on average only cover 37% of the costs, while the State takes care of the remaining 63%. . However, this coverage is uneven between homes and between services.

Thus, a high-income household pays 65%, 51% and 94% of the electricity, gas and water bill out of pocket. In addition, you pay 24% of the real cost of public transportation. On the contrary, for a low-income household the situation is this: they pay 5% of the cost of electricity, 24% of the cost of gas; 24% from public transport (no data for water). A middle-income household pays 4% for electricity and 14% for gas

With these values, in May, the AMBA public services basket occupies 14% of the average salary registered for the month while the most important weight within the services is occupied by transportation spending.