‘BOOST TO THE ECONOMY’: Fuel duty remains at 52.95p per litre for another 12 months
Fuel duty will remain at 52.95p per litre for at least another 12 months, the Chancellor has announced in the Spring Budget.
Jeremy Hunt said the 5p per litre reduction in duty which took place in March last year will be retained for another year. He also said duty will not increase in line with inflation.
Mr Hunt said the moves would save the average driver around £100 over the next 12 months.
The cut in duty last March was a response to a jump in the price of oil which followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and pushed up prices of fuel at the pumps.
Steve Gooding, Director of the RAC Foundation, said: “It might be tempting to see the fuel duty freeze in terms of a give-away to motorists, but really it is a boost to the economy. Fuel prices are huge part of the household budget of many millions of people and a massive cost to business that is inevitably passed on to consumers.
“While some seem to think the Chancellor’s decision to forego the income from a hike in fuel duty is tantamount to turning down free money it won’t feel like that to the thousands of people, often shift-workers on low incomes, who rely on cars to perform the services on which we all need.
“We should not feel too sorry for the chancellor. For every litre of petrol and diesel sold to motorists on the forecourts he is still taking about half of the pump price in tax, a mix of fuel duty and VAT. In cash terms that’s about £40 every time the tank of an average car is filled up.”
