Bolsonaro blames pandemic and war for food inflation in Brazil

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) got to know again on Saturday (9), in a video posted on social media, to Food price inflation progresses in Brazil —But he argued that this phenomenon occurs all over the world. According to him, the rise in food prices is due to factors such as the social isolation that was adopted in the Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of the Corona virus. The current war in Eastern Europe.

The whole world is now witnessing a massive inflation of food prices, as a result of the post-pandemic “stay at home” issue, as well as the issue of the Ukrainian-Russian war.
Jair Bolsonaro, posted the video on Twitter

On a trip, the president is shown in the video surrounded by his sympathizers at the São Miguel Arcanjo Sanctuary, in Bandeirantes (PR).

The data comes a day after the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) announced that inflation as measured by the IPCA (wide consumer price index, considered a measure of inflation) was 1.62% in March —Highest month since the start of the real plan in 1994.

Aside from food at home, which includes food consumed by families, an inflation rate of 3.09% was recorded. Basketball staples, such as soybean oil (8.99%), rice (2.69%) and black beans (2.60%) also rose more than average.

In addition to citing the war between Russia and Ukraine, which Raising global commodity prices (raw materials such as oil, corn, soybeans and iron ore), Bolsonaro attributed food inflation to Climate problems in 2021. “We had a drought problem last year, and we had frost,” he declared.

Fuel price hike

In a conversation with his supporters, Bolsonaro also addressed the price hike fuelFollowing the war between Russia and Ukraine.

According to IBGE data on Friday (8), diesel oil rose 13.65% in the month of March alone. Gasoline rose 6.95% and bottled gas 6.57%.

“There is fuel inflation all over the world,” Bolsonaro said. “Is Brazil’s fuel inflation expensive nowadays? [Mas] Look at the series of fuel price components.”

As on other occasions, the politician linked the rise in fuel prices in Brazil to the collection of ICMS (Commodity and Services Tax) by states.

“Try to find out how much ICMS, which is a tax imposed by states, how much is the profit margin for bankers, whether it is fair or not, and what is the profit margin for gas station owners,” Bolsonaro said.

The president did not explain in his talk about hydrocarbons, but the reason for mentioning the issue of profit of financial institutions.

An important tax on states’ cash flow, ICMS has been frozen on fuel since the end of last year and will remain so until at least the end of June. The tax does not represent the main share in the composition of fuel prices.

In the composition of diesel oil prices according to the calculations published before PetrobrasICMS’ share is currently around 11%.

“How much is the federal tax on diesel in Brazil? It’s zero. I will yellow,” Bolsonaro declared to his supporters.

need refineries

Bolsonaro also called for more refineries to be built in Brazil. According to him, the lack of refineries in the Labor government made the country a importer of diesel and gasoline, despite being self-sufficient in oil.

“It is a problem we have,” he said. “This is not an excuse, it is a fact. We are already investing, strengthening some refineries, to increase productivity, but what is the best solution? A refinery.” “If we had built two refineries, today we would be exporters of oil derivatives, not importers,” he added.

Attacks on MST

During the conversation with his supporters in Paraná, Bolsonaro also returned to attack social movements, such as the movement of the rural landless workers, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations).

According to Bolsonaro, his government has reduced the fines imposed on producers in this area.

“If you ask any farmer, they know the fine amount has been reduced by 80%. It wasn’t a cry. Do you have to pay a fine? Yes. But there has to be a reason for the fine,” he said. “We are giving, across Brazil, the man who was the MST maneuver block, to be the owner [de terras]”, he added.