The press is rife with news of falling oil prices but this means nothing to consumers who still have to pay high prices for fuel despite the crumbling cost of petrol in 2014. The reason is tax. By the time the fuel reaches the pump it has already been tweaked upwards by 60%, hence despite the fact that prices are 40% less than last year, Greek consumers have felt a slight 9% drop.

The huge taxes in fuel has led Greeks – who have among the lowest salaries in Europe – to buy at British rates. Eurostat shows that Greece has the 5th highest cost of fuel in the EU, behind the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark with the average price at 1.39.60 euros in Greece – just a few cents behind the most expensive e.g. Dutch rates are 1.4630 per litre, whereas in Poland – the cheapest on the market – rates are at 0.984 cents.

Compared to December 2014, benzene has subsided by 1.44 euros to 1.38 euros per liter – down by 6%.