Salvadoran families saved $53 million on propane gas in four months

For this month, families that benefit from the targeted subsidy and the general subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will continue to pay $7.46 for a 35-pound cylinder, $3.09 for a 25-pound cylinder, $0.94 for a 20-pound cylinder, and $0.00 for the 10-pound drum.

This was confirmed by the Ministry of Economy (Minec) when publishing the reference sales prices for August, which are cushioned by the general subsidy as part of the 11 anti-inflation measures and the targeted subsidy that is granted to 1.8 million households.

According to the authorities, since March, when the measures to reduce the inflationary impact were implemented, the beneficiary families have saved around $53.2 million.

The targeted subsidy is $8.04 for all cylinders, while the generalized subsidy is $3.62 for the 25-pounder, $5.06 for the 35-pounder, $2.89 for the 20-pounder, and $1.46 for the 10-pounder.

In addition, the latest official report on the application and compliance with the measures details that, from March 11 to Friday, July 29, an average of 6,077,242 cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas were sold with a generalized subsidy, benefiting 3.7 million homes.

The report also indicated that only for the purchase of each 25-pound propane gas cylinder, which is the most used by the population, the government subsidizes $11.66, so that, in the more than four and a half months of application of the measures, consumers in this presentation have saved more than $44.

On the other hand, the report highlights that 44,423 additional families received this social benefit from the government, thanks to which they have had significant savings during the validity of the anti-crisis measures.

Last March, in the face of the marked international inflationary price escalation, President Nayib Bukele launched the 11 measures, a strategy aimed at minimizing the impact of the world situation on the budgets of salvadorans.

The buffer to LPG is part of this measure that also includes the temporary fixing of fuel prices that allows El Salvador to currently be the Central American nation with the lowest costs for this product.

The government also undertook measures to contain electricity prices and eliminated import taxes for a year on a group of food products and agricultural inputs, with the motivation that prices reach consumers at a better cost.

Finally, government institutions have been deployed in the country to carry out inspections of all the actors in the marketing chains to ensure that the measures reach consumers.