Article · Energy · Money and markets · Lithuania
Lithuania's 2.20 euro diesel threshold has been reached, the excise has not been cut. What is the government weighing instead?
According to Lithuanian Energy Agency data, the average diesel price from 17 to 24 September was at least 2.23 euros, six working days in a row above 2.20 euros. There is no decision to cut the excise. On 22 September the prime minister called a 10 cent cut expensive (about 20 million euros a month), and on 24 September he was talking about something else: that the CO2 component may rise less in 2027 than planned. Instead of the excise, the government is considering half-price train and intercity bus tickets. Germany gave final approval on 25 September to a 14.04 cent cut from 1 October.
On 16 September we wrote that three conditions had been named publicly for a fuel excise cut, and that the diesel threshold, 2.20 euros for five working days in a row, had not yet been reached. Three things have changed since then. First, the threshold has been reached and exceeded. Second, the government now describes a cut as an expensive plan and has moved its attention to the 2027 tax. Third, Germany is using the same measure for the second time this year, and on 25 September 2026 its parliament gave it final approval.