Brazil’s Bolsonaro complains about gas prices due to soaring inflation | International News Business and Economic News

A recent Datafolha poll showed that seven in ten Brazilians attribute the loss of their purchasing power to the government of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is putting pressure on the governor and legislators to reduce taxes on diesel and gas in order to control the rise in energy prices, which is damaging his reputation.

He said at an event in the northern state of Roraima on Wednesday: “There is no reason to spend 50 reais ($9.21) on gas at a refinery and then sell it to consumers at 130 reais.”

The inflation rate exceeds 10% every year, which has become one of Bolsonaro’s most troublesome problems. According to a Datafolha poll conducted from September 13th to 15th, seven out of ten Brazilians attribute their loss of purchasing power to his government. Another survey conducted by Modalmais and Futura Inteligencia on Wednesday showed that the president lost to the leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by an increasing advantage in next year’s election.

Although inflation is becoming more common in all sectors of the economy, fuel costs have soared by more than 40% from a year ago—the single item that has seen the largest increase in the past 12 months.

Especially gas, due to its huge financial impact on poor families, has dealt a heavy blow to Bolsonaro’s popularity. After the state-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras raised prices six times, so far this year, refinery prices have risen by nearly 38%.

Bolsonaro promised not to interfere with the company’s pricing policy. Instead, he is putting pressure on legislators to approve a proposal that sets a fixed value for the so-called ICMS tax imposed on fuel by states.

“The price of natural gas will definitely drop by half,” the president said in Roraima, while also defending the mechanism of direct sales of cooking gas to the public.

However, the speaker of the House of Commons, Arthur Lira, and party leaders discussed measures to curb fuel price increases at a meeting that did not reach an agreement.

“The discussion is still in the early stages,” Lira told reporters after the meeting, adding that one of the alternatives discussed was the establishment of a stable price fund. “No one is happy about the plunge in oil prices.”