Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday that prices could have fallen even further and remained lower until the end of the year if President Karol Nawrocki had not vetoed legislation targeting excess profits made by fuel companies.
"Thanks to our decision, fuel is more than 10 percent cheaper, but it will cost more than half a billion zlotys," Tusk said in a social media statement.
Under the latest measures, reduced VAT rates on fuel and regulated maximum prices will apply from August 17 to August 31.
The government says the intervention is intended to provide immediate relief to consumers at gas stations across the country.
The program has nevertheless triggered a political dispute between the government and the president.
Nawrocki vetoed a bill introducing a tax on windfall profits earned by major fuel companies. The government had intended to use revenue from the measure to help finance the CPN program.
Tusk has argued that the presidential veto prevented the government from securing a longer-term source of funding for lower fuel prices.
Economist Marek Leszczyński, speaking on public broadcaster Polish Radio 24, described the government's renewed CPN program as a short-term measure.
In his assessment, the main financial consequences will ultimately be felt by the state budget rather than by fuel companies.
The reduction in VAT on fuels is expected to cost the government approximately PLN 495 million.
(aj)
Source: IAR/Polskie Radio 24
Click on the audio player above for a report by Michał Owczarek