A joint meeting between the Finance and Energy Committees with the Government was held today, November 6, 2018, in the House of Representatives to discuss the fuel price differentials on the electricity bill.

Attending the meeting were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Atef Tarawneh, the Ministers of Finance, Ezzedine Kanakrieh, and Energy, Hala Zawati, and a number of officials.

In the meeting, the government asked for a study to be submitted in two weeks of ways to reduce the energy bill, and the differentials of fuel price to consumers.

Tarawneh asked for clarification about the electricity bill for consumers and stressed the importance of removing the ambiguity related to the electricity bill, which has become the focus of many citizens.

Chairman and Chief Executive of the Regulatory Authority of Energy, Farouq Al Hayari, said that the government did not benefit “one penny” from the fuel difference on electricity bills.

Hayari stressed that this difference is not a tax, and does not enter the public budget, but is the price for the generation of the energy consumed.

He pointed out that the item has been on electrical bills since 2009 under the title ‘compensating company losses’.

Minister of Energy, Hala Zwati, said that taxes on fuel will return one billion Jordanian dinars to the treasury this year, adding that taxes returned 800 million last year, and 600 million in 2016.

Taxation accounted for 26% of the price of kerosene and gasoline, 47% of octane, 90% of gasoline and 57% of octane 95.