Petrol prices are set to go up by 25.8 cents a litre on January 1, with further rises in in the years after that if the tax cap on fuel is not extended, infrastructure minister Barry Madlener (PVV) has said.

The tax cap for drivers has been in place since 2022, but rising world fuel prices will boost the cost to a further €1.6 billion, too much for a cabinet already strapped for cash, Madlener said.

In 2027 and 2030 a change in European rules would boost prices up even further taking the increase to almost 50 cents a litre, the minister said. Euro 95 petrol in the Netherlands currently costs around €2 a litre, but there are wide variations.

The increase will be a further blow to the coalition whose election promise included an increase in spending power. “Mobility must remain affordable. It is under pressure and that is worrying. I hope the cabinet can remedy this despite scarce resources,” Madlener told MPs

Lower fuel prices were just one of the measures to increase spending power on the right-wing cabinet’s wish list but was never a deal breaker. VVD party leader Dilan Yesilgöz mooted earlier in an interview that fuel prices could be discussed during the spring budget negotiations, despite the party’s traditional car-friendly image.

World fuel prices have dropped in the last weeks but the reduction is expected to be temporary.

Petrol station owners have urged the government to take action to keep prices down.