The Finance Ministry announced Thursday morning that an order to reduce the fuel excise tax by .5 shekels will take effect at gas stations at midnight between Sunday and Monday, bringing the self-service price of 95-octane gasoline down to NIS 7.75 per liter.
The measure, ordered by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has drawn criticism from opponents who have described it as “election economics." The order underwent the Finance Ministry’s legal review and was approved.
The tax reduction comes just two days after gasoline prices increased by .16 shekels per liter, bringing the price of 95-octane gasoline at self-service stations to a record NIS 8.25 per liter.
Bat Sheva Abuchatzeira, director of the Fuels and Gas Administration at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, said the latest increase was driven by several factors. These included an approximately 6% rise in gasoline prices on global markets, partially offset by a roughly 3% weakening of the dollar.
Together, these factors added about .16 shekels to the price of a liter of gasoline. An additional resulted from the index-linked update to the excise tax carried out by the Tax Authority, while the semiannual update to the marketing margin added another agorah. Combined, the changes resulted in the total .16 shekel increase.