El Caribe newspaper highlights today that despite the new Petroleum Law being is in effect, the government is violating the essence of the law by granting subsidies. The idea of the law was to remove government discretion in the price changes of petroleum products. But this has not been applied so far. Petroleum prices have fallen, and price reductions have not taken place accordingly. Instead, Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Lockward has "magnanimously" announced a subsidy on propane gas prices in Christmas time in violation of the law’s stipulations. According to Isidoro Santana, of the Fundacion Siglo 21, the government can no longer attribute to itself the lowering of fuel prices. The law establishes that petroleum prices will fluctuate with the fluctuations in international prices. Ramon Flores, of the same economic think tank organization, says that the propane gas subsidy to propane gas sets a bad precedent because it brings back government intervention in the setting of fuel prices. Isidoro Santana and Eduardo Garcia Michel of Fundación Siglo 21 say that the government is violating the law because it has not varied prices despite a drop in international prices. He said it is necessary that the people change their perception that the government does them a favor when lowering fuel prices. He says the law was passed to eliminate government discretion in the setting of these, leaving these to fluctuate with world market prices. He said the population needs to become accustomed to fuel price fluctuations. The present fuel prices were set when the cost of petroleum barrel was at RD$30+. Fuel prices have dropped to US$22 level, but there has not been an proportional reduction in posted prices.
