Reducing the oil tax cut...Industrial electricity prices are rising.

[Anchor]
Due to a lack of tax revenue, the government has decided to reduce the benefits of gasoline and diesel tax cuts starting next month.

At the same time, industrial electricity prices will rise from tomorrow due to the chronic deficit of KEPCO.

I'm connecting with a reporter from the Ministry of Economy to find out more.

Reporter Choi Ah-young, how much will the oil tax reduction benefit be reduced?

[Reporter]
First of all, gasoline will be reduced by 5 percentage points from the current cut rate of 20% to 15%.

Diesel and LPG butane will be reduced by 7 percentage points from 30% to 23%.

As a result, the price of gasoline will increase by 42 won per liter, 41 won for diesel, and 14 won for LPG butane.

Currently, the average price of gasoline nationwide is in the late 1,500 won range, but it will enter the 1,600 won range.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance will extend the oil tax cut for two months from next month to the end of the year, but will reduce the cut.

Consumer price growth slowed to 1% in three and a half years, so there is a justification for the end, but the extension was decided due to a deficit in tax revenue that is expected to reach 29.6 trillion won.

In particular, the transportation, energy, and environmental tax, which is an oil tax, is expected to be collected by KRW 4.1 trillion less than the government expected.

Furthermore, considering the high price of agricultural products and the possibility of a sudden change in the situation in the Middle East, the government decided not to eliminate the benefits but to gradually reduce them.

[Anchor]
I think there will be a lot of people rushing to refuel before gas prices go up, but industrial electricity prices will go up from tomorrow?

[Reporter]
Yes. The government and KEPCO froze electricity bills used by households and small business owners for now, taking into account inflation and the economic burden of the common people.

However, in the face of KEPCO's chronic deficit, it has decided to raise industrial electricity rates by an average of 9.7% as a desperate measure.

From tomorrow, large companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix that use a lot of electricity will increase by 10.2% and small and medium-sized companies will increase by 5.2%.

The government has usually raised electricity rates collectively regardless of purpose, but it has decided to apply them differentially this time following last year.

Let's hear the reason.

[Choi Nam-ho / Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy: The fact that the burden is relatively large is that the part of large corporations centered on exports is to share the pain....]

KEPCO sells electricity at a lower price than the cost at a time when international oil prices soared due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, accumulating a cumulative deficit of 41 trillion won and debt of 203 trillion won.

The industry believes that the increase will increase KEPCO's additional annual electricity sales by 4.7 trillion won.

So far, I'm YTN Choi Ah-young in the Ministry of Economy.