Daniel Obajtek, Orlen's CEO, said the latest government move was "a very good decision".
Piotr Nowak/PAP

The prices of diesel and petrol could fall to PLN 5 (EUR 1.10) per litre thanks to the government’s decision to temporarily cut VAT on fuels by two-thirds, the head of Poland’s biggest fuel company PKN Orlen has said.

The government has already temporarily lowered the excise tax on fuel, which has brought prices at petrol stations down to PLN 5.70-5.80 (EUR 1.25-1.27) a litre from levels exceeding PLN 6.00 (EUR 1.32) per litre for standard fuels.

In an interview with the Interia news outlet published on Friday, Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, said the government would lower VAT on fuels to 8 percent from 23 percent for six months, starting from February, which will cut fuel prices by PLN 0.60-0.70 per litre.

Daniel Obajtek, Orlen’s CEO, said the latest government move was “a very good decision”.

Poles have been hit hard by rising inflation, which reached 8.6 percent in December, according to a flash estimate by the country’s statistics office released on Friday.

Rising energy and food prices are among the main drivers of inflation.