WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland will provide consumers with an additional 1.5 billion zlotys ($380 million) in subsidies as energy prices climb, Poland’s climate minister said on Friday.
Benchmark European gas prices have rocketed as tight supply has collided with high demand in economies recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, dragging up wholesale electricity costs.
“This is a matter that is a priority for me and the solutions we are proposing are valued at 1.5 billion zlotys. We will cover 2.6 million households,” Climate Minister Michal Kurtyka told Polish public radio.
The aim is to support Poland’s poorest households and could come to 700 zlotys a year for a household of four, Kurtyka said.
($1 = 3.9400 zlotys)
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)