When Petrobras raised the price of fuel, on March 11, there was an almost general revolt, in addition to faniquitos and hypocritical bustles in politics. Shortly after, a law would be passed to change the collection of ICMS and the federal government would reduce PIS/Cofins on diesel to zero. On March 28, Jair Bolsonaro would dismiss General Silva e Luna from the presidency. After the fiasco of appointing a replacement, José Mauro Coelho assumed command of the oil company on April 14.
There was great agitation, demagoguery and nonsense.
What happened to the price of fuel? Anything. I mean, it didn’t go down. Bidu. They got taller. The tax tinkering came to nothing. The upheaval lasted as long as social media bullshit.
What can happen yet? In theory, given its policy, Petrobras would be about to announce a new increase. Perhaps he hasn’t done so yet because the price of the dollar has fluctuated more crazily than usual. Perhaps the new president of the oil company wants to be in the warmest chair before starting to take blows from Bolsonaro. On the other hand, if there is no adjustment, it will have become clear that the government has taken over the company.
Prices are at shocking levels and, to make matters worse, the rise in diesel tends to be much higher than gasoline again.
Before the March readjustment, Petrobras maintained its prices for 57 days. Since that blow, he hasn’t announced increases for 53 days.
Since then, the international benchmark diesel price has increased by nearly 11% in dollars (from the week ending March 7 to the week ending May 2, according to US Energy Information Agency data).
In reais, the rise was around 8.5% — in the case of gasoline, a drop of almost 1%. This is just an approximation based on the commercial dollar exchange rate.
In the accounts of those who calculate the difference in the price of Petrobras for its international reference, now it would be necessary to increase diesel by about 20% and gasoline by about 10%. There will be revolt and more inflation.
From the week prior to Petrobras’ increase in refineries until the week ended April 30, the price of diesel (S10) increased by an average of 19% at Brazilian gas stations. Gasoline, 10.7% (data from the National Petroleum Agency, ANP).
In relative terms, diesel was even more expensive than gasoline, considering the adjustment to Petrobras in March, another Bolsonaro fiasco. The increase in diesel was equivalent to 76% of Petrobras’ adjustment; gasoline, 57.2%.
The government accuses the states of setting a very high single national tax rate for fuel, of around R$1 per liter (but the states are still losing money, given what they used to charge). It might be. But how much has diesel increased since March? R$ 1 per liter, for an average of R$ 6.74 (but the maximum price in the country was R$ 8, until the last survey).
In other words, in order to avoid the increase in diesel in just two months, the states would have to give up the revenue from the fuel. It’s not possible. Any viable tax cut would affect the price of diesel and gasoline very little.
Finally, was any major policy discussed in order to at least avoid excessive price variation? Not. Politicians from the left to the extreme right have had a demagogic and incompetent get-together with the subject, the government in particular, but there is no debate, just as there is no serious political debate about any problem. The country is stranded, adrift, and the election ads are even dumber than ever, considering the disaster we’ve been in for almost a decade.
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.
