The consumers’ association on Monday called for the reduced fuel consumption tax rate which is to be applied from Wednesday to be extended to cover heating oil.

It said that with petrol and diesel set to be subject to a reduced tax rate, “there is no justification in any case for the exclusion from the subsidy” of heating oil, with the retail price of heating oil having risen by 32 cents per litre since the beginning of the month.

To this end, it said that “by the end of next week, there will be significant additional increases” in the price of heating oil, and warned that the amount of heating oil consumed “remains significant” in April, May, and June – the period in which the reduced tax rate on other fuels will be applied.

It said that the use of heating oil “continues until mid-May” in mountainous areas, with the average monthly consumption for the three-month period typically reaching 2,549 tonnes.

President Nikos Christodoulides had last week announced that the fuel consumption tax will be reduced by 8.33 cents per litre between April and June and that “green taxes” on fuel, which had been set to raise the retail price of fuel by nine cents per litre, will not be implemented.

However, up to now, that subsidy only applies to petrol and diesel.