LatinNews Daily - 24 March 2026

*Chile’s Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz has announced that fuel prices in Chile will rise significantly following changes to the Mepco, a special fund that subsidised fuel prices, to reflect surging international oil prices due to the war in Iran. In interviews given to TV news stations Chilevisión and CNN Chile, Quiroz said that the changes would mean that the price of 93-octane gasoline would increase by Cl$370 (US$0.40) per litre, while the price of diesel would rise by between Cl$570 and Cl$580 per litre. According to newswire Reuters, the price rises represent ​a jump of about 30% for gasoline and 60% for diesel in Chile’s capital Santiago, while Bloomberg puts the increases at 44% and 54% respectively. Quiroz, who took office on 11 March as part of President José Antonio Kast’s new government, blamed the previous administration of former president Gabriel Boric (2022-2026) for the measures, telling CNN that, “I would have liked to have inherited a different fiscal situation to deal with this in another way.” Quiroz also announced seven measures to try and alleviate the impact on various sectors, including a freeze on bus fares in Santiago until the end of the year, as well as similar measures for public transport in other regions; subsidies for taxi drivers for six months; a price cut for paraffin; a six-year financing line for the conversion of taxis to electric vehicles; measures to help truck drivers and improve highway security; and a suspension of tax breaks on industrial fuel purchases.

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