Senate Committee invites Guedes, Bento and president of Petrobras to debate fuel increase

The Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) will hold a public hearing on the rise in fuel prices next Tuesday (23) with the ministers of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, and the president of Petrobras , Joaquim Silva and Luna.

The presence of the authorities in the commission was arranged at the request of the leader of the government in the Senate, Fernando Bezerra Coelho (MDB-PE), who advocated for more debate before the vote on a bill that creates a program for the stabilization of the price of oil products in Brazil, under the report of the senator and leader of the Minority in the House, Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN).

“This is a very important, very delicate matter, it has repercussions from the standpoint of investments and concessions, which lie ahead, and there is already a concession round scheduled for the month of December”, argued Bezerra, when suggesting the holding public hearings.

The commission’s senators agreed to invite the authorities —there were requests for convocation, which were transformed into invitations—, and it was agreed that the project reported by Prates will be voted on by the CAE on the 30th.

“If the government doesn’t act, I’m sorry, but we have to do something. We’ll help the government, as we help with emergency aid — it took four months to move. So, we’ll poke there. Let’s poke here!”, said Prates when defending the project for which he presented a substitute.

“And with that, with the debates, then yes, I think it is fundamental (…) that the two ministers come as early as the Tuesday that they come here to deal with this project,” he added.

In the opinion already filed in the Senate system, Prates defends the adoption of a band system (amortization of prices), even if the government remains responsible for the fuel price policy.

“In the face of a sudden drop in international value, the program will maintain prices and accumulate values ​​corresponding to the reduction in costs. If the price rises, this reserve will be used to delay the transfer of the increase to the consumer. It is a kind of “savings “or price amortization, which will help to contain fuel price hikes in the domestic market and minimize the impacts of the import parity price policy (PPI), adopted by the fuel price policy implemented in Brazil, since 2017, in Temer’s government, which linked the cost of Brazilian fuel to the value of the dollar,” explained the rapporteur.