President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) asked this Thursday (9) for supermarket entrepreneurs to reduce the profit on the basic food basket in order to contain the high prices felt by the population.
The request was made during an event held by Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets), in which it participated virtually.
“The appeal I make to you, to the entire production chain, is for the products of the basic food basket to obtain the lowest possible profit, so that we can satisfy a considerable part of the population, especially the most humble.”
Bolsonaro also said that “in difficult times, I understand that we all have to collaborate”.
“I know that the profit margin has been decreasing more and more. You have already collaborated in this sense, but collaborate a little more in the profit margin of the basic basket products.”
The president highlighted that the prices of soy oil, eggs, milk, sugar and coffee are considered by him the current “villains” of the basic food basket.
“If it is answered, I thank you very much; if it is not, it is because it is not possible”, he concluded.
Despite the appeal, companies are asking for solutions to contain prices. The president of the Abras supermarket association, João Galassi, defended more at the same event that the new industry price table for retail is only for 2023.
“Considering that federal taxes are not levied on the basic food basket, how can we offer the basic food basket items at a lower cost? We cannot sit idly by waiting for a solution”, he said.
“After our first thematic session, which will be precisely to reduce costs through tax reform, I ask the authorities and leaders to look into solving the urgency of the moment. Society needs the national supply chain. I want to launch a challenge: a new table only in 2023”, said Galassi at the National Supply Chain Forum.
The scale of prices is one of Bolsonaro’s main concerns in the electoral race.
Official inflation in Brazil, measured by the IPCA (National Index of Consumer Prices), slowed to 0.47% in May, the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) reported on Thursday.
Despite the slowdown, prices in the food and beverage group continue to rise. The increase was 0.48% in May, after a variation of 2.06% in April.
According to the IBGE, the prices of some foods, such as carrots (increase of 116.37% in 12 months), have risen a lot and have a very high basis for comparison. Values ​​such as milk continue to rise due to the off-season period, with drier pastures, and cost inflation with the rise in prices of commodities such as corn and soybeans, used in animal feed.
On the other hand, there were drops in tomato (-23.72%), potato (-3.94%) and carrot (-24.07%). The trio came from strong increases in previous months, due to supply restrictions generated by storms or drought in producing regions.
Bolsonaro arrived in the early afternoon of Thursday (9) in the United States, where he will meet with US President Joe Biden and participate in the Summit of the Americas.
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