Smotrich orders tax cut to offset fuel price hike

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ordered a reduction in the excise tax on fuel to offset a planned price increase scheduled for this week. Smotrich's office stated that the Finance Ministry is currently conducting professional discussions to determine the exact threshold and mechanism for the discount, with the minister intending to sign the order for implementation within the coming days. Earlier, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure's Fuel and Gas Administration announced a 16-agura-per-liter price hike, which would have brought the cost of 95-octane unleaded gasoline to 8.25 NIS per liter at self-service pumps. Bat Sheva Abuhatzera, head of the Fuel and Gas Administration, attributed the price adjustment to several factors: a roughly 6% rise in global gasoline prices, partially offset by a 3% weakening of the dollar, alongside an index-linked adjustment to the excise tax and a semiannual update to the marketing margin.