The official mentioned this July 21 the figures of the increase in fuel prices in Guatemala recorded last week and indicated that, in the face of such a situation “and by presidential coordination”, the ministers involved in the issue will meet to establish the possibility of new financial support for the benefit of the population.
If appropriate, the proposal will be presented to the Congress of the Republic, said Barrios in a message released this July 21 on the social networks of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) at the end of the afternoon. Although it did not provide details of what it will contain, for what amounts and how it will be paid so that the effect reaches final consumers.
In this context, he explained that tensions in the Middle East continue to generate uncertainty in international markets and that Risks in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s main oil shipping routes, have led to increases in fuel prices.
The minister also explained that on Monday afternoon, July 20, said ministry established that “the prices published in some service stations reflected variations that do not represent price distortion, so it is not necessary to issue reference prices, according to article 49 of the Hydrocarbon Marketing Law.”
According to the monitoring carried out by that institution, between July 13 and 20, prices increased by Q0.50 per gallon for premium gasoline, Q0.49 for regular gasoline, and Q1.96 for diesel.
However, between Monday night and Tuesday morning, the service stations adjusted their prices and there was a new increase of Q1.50 in gasoline, bringing the premium gallon to Q41.09 and the regular one to Q40.09.
Meanwhile, diesel rose Q2.70 per gallon and reached Q42.29.
Tensions in the Middle East impact the international fuel market. The MEM maintains permanent monitoring and, through presidential coordination, possible economic support will be evaluated to benefit the population. If viable, it will be presented to Congress. pic.twitter.com/p22dT7DXkp
— Ministry of Energy and Mines of Guatemala (@MEMguatemala) July 21, 2026
He added that the MEM maintains permanent monitoring of the national and international market to promote transparency, guarantee supply and keep the population informed.
CONTENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
This was the first subsidy
The Government implemented a subsidy of Q5 per gallon of gasoline and Q8 per gallon of diesel between April 28 and July 2, with a disbursement of Q1,932 million of the Q2 billion approved by Decree 11-2026 of Congress.
The aforementioned law established that the amount was to cover three months or until the approved resources were exhausted. With the aforementioned execution, the fund was exhausted early and covered about 10 weeks.
The MEM authorities had indicated on May 28 that, if it was necessary to extend the term or amount of the subsidy, they were analyzing that it be focused to cover segments such as food cargo transportation, the basic basket and public passenger transportation; However, no proposal was finalized.