The president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, declared an “economic and social emergency”, with the elimination of fuel subsidies maintained for around two decades, which will result in increases of up to 100% in the prices of gasoline and diesel. The decision was detailed in a publication by the president himself, classifying the measure as “difficult, but necessary to guarantee fuel supplies and stop bleeding our reserves”.
According to Paz, the new resources generated with the end of the subsidy will not be concentrated in the central government. He wrote that “these new resources will not remain centralized, but will be distributed 50% directly to our regions and subnational governments”, with the aim of transforming the effort into “better hospitals, schools and services”.
The Bolivian president also declared that his “absolute priority is to protect the population’s pockets while we stabilize the country” and informed that, from January 2026, the national minimum wage will rise to 3,300 Bolivianos (around US$480), an increase of 20%. Paz also announced the increase in Renta Dignidad to 500 Bolivianos (US$72) and the creation of a remuneration bonus for informal workers.
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Furthermore, the president stated that he intends to encourage investments with “0% tax for those who repatriate their capital to produce in our land”. Paz stated that “it is a very difficult time” and that the government received “a country injured in its economy, without dollars, with growing inflation and without fuel”. For him, the decision marks “the end point of a model of lies, waste and corruption” and the beginning of a phase of “national reconstruction”.
