By LCN Business Desk
Guatemala now has two ways of holding down the price of fuel, passed eleven days apart, and its President has to decide what to do with the second one. Congress rejected the objections to Decree 21-2026 on 24 September and sent it to President Bernardo Arevalo to sanction or veto, Prensa Libre reported. Infobae described the vote as clearing the way for Arevalo to choose between two mechanisms.
This newspaper reported the first of the two on Thursday, in Guatemala Stopped Taxing Fuel Until New Year's Eve. That is Decree 22-2026, which suspends value added tax and the petroleum products tax until 31 December. Decree 21-2026 is a different instrument and does something else.
What is the difference between the two decrees?
| Decree 21-2026 | Decree 22-2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Sets maximum prices and pays importers the difference | Suspends value added tax and the petroleum products tax |
| Approved | 8 September 2026 | 22 September 2026, by 148 votes |
| Diesel and regular petrol | Capped at Q39 a gallon, about US$5.11 | Reference price falls Q6.34 a gallon, about 83 US cents |
| Premium petrol | Capped at Q41 a gallon, about US$5.37 | |
| Who pays | The state, through a compensation mechanism for authorised importers | The state, through revenue it does not collect |
| Status | Objections rejected 24 September, with the President to sanction or veto | Objection period closed with no challenge, sent to the Executive |
| Runs to | 31 December 2026 | 31 December 2026 |
Sources: Prensa Libre, Infobae, TV Azteca Guatemala and La Hora. Quetzal figures converted at Q7.63357 to the United States dollar, the Banco de Guatemala reference rate for 23 September 2026.
What do the two of them cost?
Thursday's report on the tax suspension noted that no figure for foregone revenue had been published. Figures now exist for both instruments, and they are large.
| Item | Quetzales | US dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Subsidy fund under Decree 21-2026 | Q2,500 million | US$327.5 million |
| Budget reduction to balance it | Q507.6 million | US$66.5 million |
| Petroleum products tax foregone, Decree 22-2026 | Q1,332.2 million | US$174.5 million |
| Value added tax foregone, Decree 22-2026 | Q1,986.2 million | US$260.2 million |
| Combined commitment | Q5,818.4 million | US$762.2 million |
Converted at Q7.63357 to the dollar. The subsidy fund is money the state pays out. The tax lines are money it does not take in. The budget reduction is the offset Congress attached to the first.
Both instruments expire on 31 December 2026, which puts the whole of it back on the calendar for 1 January.
Why does a country pass two measures for one problem?
Because the first one stalled. An opposition deputy objected to the price-cap law on 11 September, which halted its entry into force. The tax suspension was passed while that objection stood. Congress then cleared the objection on 24 September, which leaves both on the table at once.
The two work in opposite directions on the same price. A cap with compensation keeps the pump price fixed and sends the state's money to importers. A tax suspension lowers the state's own share of the price and leaves the pump price to the market. Applied together they would subsidise a price that has already had its tax removed.
The sequence started on the road. Truckers sealed the routes to Mexico and El Salvador and the government capped fuel at Q39 a gallon, reported in Guatemala Caps Fuel at Q39 a Gallon.
What is happening to the price behind all this?
It is rising for reasons outside Guatemala. President Donald Trump has backed a ban on United States diesel exports and Louisiana's governor has asked for 90 days, which would reach Latin American buyers first, covered in America May Stop Selling Diesel Abroad.
Freight is the other half of a landed price. The Panama Canal cut its daily booking slots to 32, with CARICOM's exposure costed in The Panama Canal Cut Its Daily Booking Slots to 32. Bolivia has just confirmed its first diesel import through a public-private arrangement, which is a third way of answering the same question.
What does this look like from the Caribbean?
Like an expensive month. Guatemala is committing about US$762 million to holding a fuel price for sixteen weeks. Guyana's entire purchase of mineral fuels and oils from the United States in 2025 was US$632 million, a figure set out in the diesel report above.
Regional governments have reached for different instruments on the same pressure. Honduras drafted a decree in weeks where Guyana brought a review that had commenced, in Honduras Drafted a Decree in Weeks. Guyana's own position runs through the unfinished gas plant and a third powership, costed in What a Third Powership Would Cost Guyana.
Decree 22-2026 has cleared its objection period. Decree 21-2026 is with the President.
What the title card shows
- Two decrees, eleven days apart: Decree 21-2026 caps prices and pays importers the difference; Decree 22-2026 suspends value added tax and the petroleum products tax. Both run to 31 December 2026.
- Q2,500 million, about US$327.5 million: the subsidy fund under the price-cap decree, with a Q507.6 million budget reduction attached to balance it.
- Q3,318.4 million, about US$434.7 million: the tax revenue foregone under the suspension, Q1,332.2 million of petroleum products tax and Q1,986.2 million of value added tax.
- Q5,818.4 million, about US$762.2 million: the two commitments together. Converted at Q7.63357 to the dollar, the Banco de Guatemala reference rate for 23 September 2026.
- With the President: Congress rejected the objections to Decree 21-2026 on 24 September, leaving Bernardo Arevalo to sanction or veto it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Decree 21-2026?
A Guatemalan measure approved on 8 September setting maximum reference prices of Q39 a gallon for diesel and regular petrol and Q41 for premium, to 31 December 2026, with the state covering the difference through a compensation mechanism for authorised importers funded at Q2,500 million.
How is it different from Decree 22-2026?
Decree 22-2026, approved on 22 September by 148 votes, suspends value added tax and the petroleum products tax on fuel until 31 December. One fixes the price and pays the seller; the other removes the state's own share of the price.
What do they cost together?
About Q5,818.4 million, or US$762.2 million: a Q2,500 million subsidy fund plus Q3,318.4 million of foregone tax. Converted at Q7.63357 to the dollar, the Banco de Guatemala reference rate for 23 September 2026.
What happens next?
President Bernardo Arevalo must decide whether to sanction or veto Decree 21-2026. Decree 22-2026 passed its objection period without challenge and has gone to the Executive.