President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said this Tuesday (7th) that he had asked truck drivers to help monitor whether gas station owners are not increasing profits, with measures to reduce fuel prices.
“Today I started talking to truck drivers, everybody, to photograph panels of fuel pumps there. Because, when the PEC is enacted, the PL is sanctioned, the reduction is already for the next day”, he said in an interview with SBT. The category is part of its base of supporters and voters.
According to the Chief Executive, he wants the cost price of gasoline at the refineries that supply the station to be listed next to the pump.
“Now we are going to demand that the profit margin of tankers and gas station owners is not increased with our tax reduction”, he added.
He said, however, that it was not a reformulation of Sarney’s inspectors, who checked whether supermarkets were complying with the fixed prices of José Sarney’s crossed plan or readjusting the values.
“Is not [como] Sarney’s inspector back there, Sarney’s inspector went over the tabulation, it didn’t work. We cannot schedule on this side,” Bolsonaro said.
The day before, the government announced a broad package of up to R$50 billion, with cuts in gasoline taxes and transfers to states.
Rising fuel and food prices are seen by members of his campaign as the main obstacle to reelection.
Three months after zeroing the PIS and Cofins rates, two federal taxes, on diesel and cooking gas until December 2022, Bolsonaro announced the expansion of the scope of the measure and will also exempt federal taxes on gasoline and ethanol. According to the president, the PIS/Cofins and Cide rates will be zeroed.
Pressured by the National Congress, the president also announced that the government is willing to reimburse states that agree to zero ICMS rates on diesel and cooking gas with resources from the Union by the end of the year.
The impacts of the measures were not detailed during the statement. Questioned by journalists, Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) said that the total cost should be above R$25 billion and below R$50 billion. Government sources, in turn, claim that the cost should be close to R$50 billion.
To pave the way for the transfer of resources, the government will seek the approval of a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) to authorize spending outside the spending ceiling, the rule that limits the advance of expenditures to inflation. The articulation for this PEC was anticipated by the Sheet.​
The PEC emerged as an alternative to the public calamity decree, which was once again defended by the political wing of the government, but faced resistance from technicians in the economic area.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
