Minister defends “more predictability” for fuel price increases

In a press conference on Tuesday (16/04) in Sinop, Mato Grosso, minister Tereza Cristina defended greater predictability for fuel price increases, especially diesel oil. She made the reservation that Petrobras is an independent company and increases (or decreases) prices according to the international market, but stated: “This is bad for the producer”.

For the minister, the best thing would be for the country to have its house in order and for Petrobras to be able to provide more predictability to price increases, and also to their reduction, but she remembered that the world today is globalized and that everyone has to understand this.

“Rural producers are now penalized by increased production costs, there is little left (money). It's time for reflection. We have to sit down and find a way. Life has ups and downs and today we are in a moment of transition in Brazilian agriculture”, said Tereza Cristina.

The minister went to Sinop to participate in the panel “The future of agribusiness”, during the NorteShow 2019 Fair, which has more than 800 brands on display and more than 600 exhibitors. She was accompanied by the governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes, the president of the Parliamentary Agricultural Front, deputy Alceu Moreira (MDB-RS), former deputy Nilson Leitão and the director of Agricultural Policy, Wilson Vaz Araujo.

In the interview, Tereza Cristina once again said that freight pricing “doesn't help anyone” and defended a solution to the problem through two paths: either the new table being prepared by USP experts or a decision by the Federal Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the schedule determined by the Michel Temer government after last year's truck drivers' strike, which paralyzed the country.

The minister also defended that the Safra Plan should become multi-annual, that is, it should be carried out every five years and not annually, as it is today. “Every year there is this suffering, interest rates, credit... We are working with the Ministry of Economy and the Central Bank, having a big conversation so that we can have better things in the future”, she stated. According to her, for the 2019/2020 Harvest Plan “things will not change much” in relation to the current harvest, when credit reached R$221 billion, of which R$30 billion for Pronaf (National Family Farming Program). “It may not get better as we wanted, but it won’t get worse,” said the minister.

Governor Mauro Mendes informed the minister that a company in Mato Grosso announced that it will produce ethanol from corn, which she considered good news for producers in the state, as currently large-scale ethanol production in the country is still taking place. from sugar cane. She said that the Bolsonaro government will help the private sector by reducing bureaucracy and contributing to improving the business environment in the country.