According to the Costa Blanca News - petrol prices have climbed by nearly 10 per cent in the last month, in part thanks to a 2.9-cents-per-litre tax hike approved by the government in June.
Prices at the pump started the week at 1.083 Euros a litre for 95-octane petrol and 0.953 Euros a litre for diesel, up 7.7 per cent and nine per cent, respectively, from the beginning of June. The increases were despite a slight lowering of prices over the last week, by 1.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
Nonetheless, we are paying nowhere near as much for a fill-up as we did at this time last year. A 55-litre tank of petrol costs 59.50 Euros now, down 13 per cent from a year ago, and the same tank-full of diesel costs 52.40 Euros, down 26 per cent.
Prices peaked in July of 2008 at 1.276 Euros a litre for 95-octane petrol and 1.329 Euros a litre for diesel, after oil prices had shot up to nearly $150 a barrel. They then began a steady decrease, with monthly drops up to February of this year, when petrol hit a low of 0.85 Euros a litre. By May, the price for petrol had climbed back up above a euro a litre.
The new fuel tax hike of 2.9 cents per litre on both petrol and diesel was approved in mid-June by the cabinet in an effort to providing some relief to the government's recession-stricken coffers. Officials expect it to generate nearly 1.1 billion Euros a year in additional tax revenue.
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