Lula again criticizes Petrobras’ price composition and says that ‘a lot will change’ – 02/16/2023 – Market

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized this Thursday (16) the fact that Petrobras imports gasoline and diesel oil from other countries in dollars while oil is extracted in Brazil in reais.

The representative attacked previous governments and said that the PT administrations had made large investments to find the pre-salt layer to take a “quality leap”, but that this did not materialize.

“Petrobras was seen as a passport to the future for us to export derivatives, [mas] we are exporting crude oil and we are importing gasoline and diesel oil from another country paying in dollars, when our gasoline and our oil is extracted in reais. So we came to change things,” he stated.

The representative gave the statement at a ceremony to announce readjustment of research grants in the country. The Chief Executive went so far as to say that he would not speak because he was hoarse, but said that he would invest in education because he does not want Brazil to export only iron ore, soybeans and corn, but also high technology and intelligence.

The president of Petrobras appointed by Lula, Jean Paul Prates, has already advocated reviewing the company’s pricing policy regarding the so-called import parity – which takes into account costs such as ship freight, internal transport costs and port fees.

According to him, the prices practiced in Brazil comply with the import calculation even when the fuel production is domestic. The criticism is similar to that of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration, which began to seek changes in the values ​​practiced mainly from changes in command of Petrobras and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

In the speech, Lula also made nods to the middle class and said that he intends to include this population group to be contemplated in Minha Casa Minha Vida.

“We are going to make the commitment to build over 2 million homes in these four years. For people who earn two minimum wages and also the middle class. , we have to take care of the people of the middle class because they sustain the economy of this country”, he said.

The president also criticized the financial market and said that, for those who work in the sector, only the payment of interest is treated as an investment, while the allocation of resources to social areas is seen as an expense.