France to continue energy tariff shield in 2023

Paris, Sep 7 (IANS) France's energy tariff shield will remain the same for all households in 2023, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced.

On Tuesday, Le Maire told French daily RMC/BFMTV that without the energy tariff shield, energy bills would soar on January 1, 2023, reports Xinhua news agency.

For electricity, the increase would be on average 120 euros ($119) per month, while gas bills would rise by 180 euros per month, he said.

However, although the price of energy will still increase, it will be "as contained as possible", by the tariffs, Le Maire added, and for low-income households, "there will be an energy check."

Six million people will receive up to 150 euros each, he said.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the tariff shield on electricity and gas, and state-financed rebate on fuel have already cost 24 billion euros.

Last week, the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said that the energy tariff shield introduced by the government has helped to put the brakes on inflation.

INSEE said that the measure had stopped inflation in France from rising by 3.1 percentage points between the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021) and the second quarter of 2022 (Q2 2022).