The Second Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Diazhas admitted that the effect of the war of Vladimir Putin against Ukraine it is already having an effect on the supply of some economic sectors. Despite the fact that the coalition government has decided to hold out until March 29 to take measures, pending the decisions adopted by the Council of Europe, the Minister of Labor has recognized that the rise in energy prices is hampering economic activity and leading to a “complex” scenario.
“We cannot ignore that the rise in energy prices is contagious throughout the economy and that it has a strong impact on the economy and employment,” Díaz said in an interview on RNE this Thursday. Next, he pointed out that they still do not have data to observe the impact on employment, but that they have observed how “there are sectors in which there are no supplies, in which the impact of energy prices is hindering activity” .
🔴 INTERVIEW | Yolanda Díaz, Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy:
🗣 “We still don’t have data on the impact on employment of this war, but we already see how there are sectors without supplies. We are going to a complex scenario”
▶️https://t.co/BoUUNPrTIJ pic.twitter.com/D3WG5H1Hrt
– The Mornings of RNE (@LasMananas_rne) March 17, 2022
Díaz’s words coincide with the strike of carriers that The indefinite strike called by the Platform for the Defense of the National and International Road Freight Transport Sector continues this Thursday, which claims to represent medium-sized and small companies that account for 85% of the sector, due to the rise in the price of diesel.
Both the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, assured this Wednesday that the Executive will take measures to lower the price of gasoline, electricity and gas, although at no time did they explain how they will do it. In La Moncloa they prefer to wait for the European Council to be held on March 23 and 24 to, depending on the measures adopted, modulate the Government’s response.
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The Executive began this Wednesday a round of contacts with the different political parties in Congress to seek consensus on the plan of measures to be approved by the Council of Ministers on March 29. In addition, negotiations are also taking place within the coalition government. United We Can have presented these days a series of initiatives to the PSOE, among which is the freezing of rental income, the creation of an energy check of 300 euros per family or the improvement of the minimum income.
Díaz, in addition, has spoken of the need to establish a more progressive tax system. “Last year the companies listed on the stock exchange in our country reached profits of 64,000 million euros. It is a historical figure. In this context, these enormous profits have to be redistributed because they are the ones who have the most,” said the second vice president this Thursday. Specifically, she has pointed to the three large energy companies that increased their profits by 47% before taxes. “It seems to me that they have to contribute to this crisis”, she has said and has spoken about an “extraordinary tax”.