Ahead of National Council meetings this week, the SPÖ is pushing for the introduction of a gas price cap. The government’s current measures to combat rising energy costs would only fuel inflation, deputy club boss Jörg Leichtfried said at a press conference on Monday: “What is happening here is sheer irresponsibility” (see also video above).
“Instead of curbing inflation, it is artificially inflated,” said Leichtfried. He could not judge whether this was done on purpose or whether the government was incompetent. But in the end, people don’t care.
“More of the same”
The one-off payments planned by the government would ultimately fizzle out, Leichtfried said. The climate bonus or the one-off payment of 150 euros has “long since been used up”. He finds the recently announced new energy cost subsidy for companies “more of the same, which actually makes no sense”. These subsidies are inflationary and would only help for a short time, but not in the long run.
The “only functioning system” is the gas price brake, which the SPÖ recently campaigned to the ÖVP state governors. SPÖ chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner wrote a letter to the six black state governors offering their cooperation: This should convince the members of ‘their’ state to vote for an SPÖ application in the National Council – the state leaders had previously energy protection umbrella required for work and economy.
“Don’t like to have hope for ÖVP country leaders”
“I don’t like to pin my hopes on ÖVP governors, and I don’t often do that,” said Leichtfried. But with the 49 members of the ÖVP from these countries, a majority for a price cap would be possible.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
