France offers 100 euro grant to lower-income households dependent on cars

France will pay a 100 euro ($104.49) grant to low-income people who use their cars for work and are struggling with high pump prices, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday, adding the scheme would mean average savings of 10 cents per litre.

"The rules will be simple. You just go to the Treasury's website (...), insert your licence plate details and declare that you need your car for work and you will receive 100 euros in your bank account", Borne told RTL radio.

The new policy would result in one-off financial help on petrol and diesel for "around half of all households" in 2023, she added.

In its effort to shield voters from soaring inflation, the French government earlier this year rolled out fuel subsidies and energy price caps worth billion of euros to keep costs down.

While the blanket rebate on pump prices that reached as much as 30 cents per litre will be phased out by the end of the year, President Emmanuel Macron's government has said it will continue limited and targeted financial help for those dependent on cars.

This latest measure will cost the state around 1 billion euros, she continued.

($1 = 0.9570 euros)