Government extends fuel price freeze until March 31 and fiscal cost rises to US$1 billion

The government submitted the bill freezing fuel prices this Thursday. The aim of this initiative was to defuse the truckers' and transporters' protests. Initially, the government's proposal failed to achieve that goal, as the truckers' representatives rejected it for being insufficient. Given that scenario, on Thursday afternoon the Ministers of the Interior and Finance, Claudio Alvarado and Jorge Quiroz, met at La Moneda with the truckers' associations, and the meeting had good results. The original initiative contemplated a reversal of the price increase of $42 that took effect this Thursday for diesel and $38.5 for diesel. To that reduction, an additional $100 decrease for diesel is now added. Another change is that the price freeze period is extended. If in the initial bill the deadline was until February 3, it will now be until March 31, 2027. According to the agreement reached with the truckers, until that date the price can only stay the same or go down. "If it goes down and then goes up, the increase is allowed, but the price can never exceed the ceiling resulting from the reductions announced today, that is, the price of November 12 minus 142 pesos per liter for diesel, and minus 39 pesos for gasolines," the agreement states. That is, for diesel in the Metropolitan Region, the maximum price this fuel will reach until March 31 is an average of $1,452, which represents a drop of 8.9% compared to the current value reported by the bencinasenlinea portal of the National Energy Commission (CNE). And in the case of 93-octane gasoline, the ceiling value for the Metropolitan Region will be around $1,537 on average. Meanwhile, 97-octane gasoline will have a price ceiling close to $1,657. DRAGOMIR YANKOVIC/ATON CHILE The percentage of the diesel-specific tax refund is also increased (road freight transport, Law 19.764). The new rates are incorporated into this law and remain as indicated below: 90% for taxpayers with annual income equal to or less than 2,400 UF; 90% for taxpayers with annual income above 2,400 and up to 6,000 UF; 65% for taxpayers with annual income above 6,000 and up to 20,000 UF; 50% for taxpayers with annual income above 20,000 UF. For buses, the toll recovery percentage is raised from 35% to 70% and, regarding the negative tax, the obligation for transporters to report the debit on the F29 form for the specific tax when it is negative is eliminated. A compensation account is created, and compensation is applied once a positive specific tax is generated. Fiscal cost According to the Financial Report of the initial bill, the fiscal cost of the proposal amounted to about US$500 million. The details mentioned lower revenues of $172,969 million in 2026 (about US$175 million) and $365,905 million less in 2027 (about US$370 million). Now, that amount rises to about US$500 million for this year and another US$500 million for 2027. This was stated by the Minister of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, at the press conference after the agreement: "As for the fiscal cost, the cost is significant, on the order of US$500 million, both this year and next. It is an affordable cost, within our fiscal consolidation objectives. It does not alter our targets. We can make this effort today because we have been responsible throughout the year in every respect." The head of public finances expressed that the order they have maintained throughout the year "allows us to generate less impact in this current situation and, above all, perhaps to better take advantage of a situation that can be positive if the international situation begins to normalize." Now, if one considers from March 5 to November 5, the government has spent $1.4 trillion, about US$1,450 million, of which nearly $1 trillion (one million dollars) corresponded to containing the price of diesel. Therefore, if one considers what the treasury has already spent, that is, the US$1,450 million plus the US$1,000 million that will be disbursed to freeze the price and the other measures, the total cost of containing fuel prices will reach about US$2,500 million. "This effort has intensified especially in recent months. Only between August and October, the operation of the mechanism represented a fiscal impact of $1.1 trillion, of which $0.86 trillion was allocated to containing the price of diesel," the bill states. The message of the bill In its central ideas, the initiative states that "these measures do not seek to ignore the evolution of international prices or to establish a permanent decoupling between them and domestic prices. On the contrary, they aim to temporarily contain the extraordinary effects of an external shock, responsibly taking advantage of the fiscal space generated by the consolidation efforts made during this year." The government highlights the "transitory and limited" nature of the measure, and emphasizes that it seeks "to reconcile the protection of households and productive activities with the Government's commitment to fiscal responsibility." The initiative mentions that, although high uncertainty persists regarding the evolution of the conflict and international fuel prices, recent events allow for considering the possibility of a stabilization of energy markets in the coming months. Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to make an additional and time-limited effort to limit the pass-through of possible new international increases to domestic prices, granting a longer period of adaptation to households and productive activities. And they argue that "it is necessary to complement the general price stabilization mechanisms with specific measures that temporarily relieve the financial burden of freight transporters, facilitating the continuity of their operations and their adaptation to the new price scenario." The truckers' representatives highlighted the spirit of dialogue. In that regard, the president of the Centro-Sur Truckers' Confederation, Freddy Martínez, valued the understanding and highlighted that it will allow the sector to begin overcoming the economic difficulties it has faced since March. "We did everything possible so that this would not reach the point it reached," he said, while also asking for understanding from those affected by the protests. Santiago, November 11, 2026. The Truckers' Strike continues at various points in the Metropolitan Region due to the fuel price increase and a new announced increase Lo Aguirre sector on Route 68 in the commune of Pudahuel Diego Martin/Aton Chile DIEGO MARTIN/ATON CHILE Among the sectors affected by this stoppage is agriculture. For this reason, the president of the National Agriculture Society (SNA), Antonio Walker, stated that "the agreement between the government and the main transport unions arrives in time to restore normality to the roads, safeguard the supply of food in the country, and ensure the transport and shipment of fruits such as cherries and other agricultural products in decisive days for the season." In that regard, Walker added that "we recognize the government's effort to bring positions closer together in the face of very complex demands, the willingness of the unions that joined the agreement, and the responsibility of those who decided to end the strike."