Cyprus Finance Ministry to extend reduced fuel excise duty until the end of November

Cyprus’s Finance Ministry will extend the reduced excise duty on fuel, which expires on 17 September. A ministry representative said this on 1 September at a meeting of the parliamentary energy committee, responding to a question from AKEL MP Andreas Pasourtides.

The discount will remain in effect from 18 September and, according to the ministry’s plans, will be extended until the end of November. “This is part of our plans; the bill has been approved by the minister,” the Finance Ministry representative said. The document still has to go before the Council of Ministers and Parliament.

The amount of the relief will remain unchanged at 8.33 cents per litre, including VAT. The excise duty on petrol has been cut from 42.9 to 35.9 cents per litre, and on diesel from 40 to 33 cents. The ministry stresses that the excise duty has been reduced to the lowest level permitted under the current rules: for fuel, it accounts for more than half of the tax burden.

“The measure will continue at the same level as today,” Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said. He added that the situation is changing daily and linked this to developments in the Middle East: oil is trading above $90 per barrel, compared with around $80 a week earlier.

Since the discount was introduced, consumers have saved €15.5 million. A litre of 95-octane petrol currently costs around €1.48, while a litre of diesel costs around €1.65; without an extension of the measure, filling a 50-litre tank would have cost approximately €4.17 more. The day before, fuel market participants warned that diesel could approach €2 per litre.

In terms of petrol prices, Cyprus remains the second-cheapest country in the EU — fuel is cheaper only in Bulgaria.