“We have to reverse the discount and we started doing so two weeks ago. We will use the same methodology as two weeks ago: whenever there are price decreases that allow us to accommodate part of the reversal of the discount, it will be done,” said the Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, in statements to Portuguese journalists.

When asked when this will happen, the minister indicated that it was “impossible to say”. "If I could predict the price of oil six months or a year in advance, I'd be a trillionaire like Elon Musk, but unfortunately I don't have that ability," he quipped.

At issue are the European Commission's regular requests for Portugal to end the discount on the Tax on Petroleum and Energy Products (ISP), which was created in 2022 and 2023 following the energy crisis related to the war in Ukraine and high inflation.

According to the government, the European Commission has not imposed any date, so the reduction will be gradual.

At the end of November, the government reduced the discount on the ISP applicable to unleaded petrol and road diesel, cancelling part of the fuel price drop planned for the following week.