Tânia Bacelar: Petrobras' policy is so absurd it defies explanation.

Red Portal - In an interview with Rádio Universitária de Pernambuco, economist Tânia Bacelar spoke about the fuel crisis. According to her, President Michel Temer is having difficulty solving the problem because he refuses to address its root cause. "The villain is the refining policy and, associated with it, Petrobras' pricing policy," she said, classifying them as "absurd and illogical."

"A country that has oil, that has refining capacity – which is adding value to the oil – but cuts domestic refining to import? It's impossible to explain that to the population. It's so illogical... how can a country choose to become an importer of a product that it is capable of producing?" he criticized.

Regarding the pricing policy that Petrobras implemented starting in June of this year, Tânia stated that it seems out of touch with the country's reality. "It's as if they don't know they're in Brazil. How can you, in a country where people's lives and the economy revolve around diesel and gasoline, tie the price of these fuels to two external variables – the dollar and the international price, both defined abroad – at a time when the prices of both are rising against us globally? It's so absurd that we can't explain it," she said.

Tânia assessed that the truckers' strike revealed how the country is held hostage by an infrastructure and transportation system heavily concentrated on road transport. "The truckers brought the country to a standstill. And this is a country that has rivers, oceans, and once had a railway network." When questioned about the forces that have an interest in maintaining this model, she mentioned the automotive industry and Brazilian construction companies, which have significant influence on decision-making.

According to the economist, Temer's decision to heed the truckers' demands by subsidizing the reduction in diesel prices also drew attention to the Brazilian tax model. She argued that tax reform is the "mother" of all other reforms.

"Is it easy to do? No. Lula tried twice and failed. But the Brazilian tax system is absurd. We discuss the size of the burden, but the Brazilian tax burden isn't high. It's 32%. The OECD average is 34%. We're not an outlier. We're an outlier in the composition of the burden. On average in the OECD, 34% comes from income. In Brazil, only 21%. And I'm not even talking about the tax exemption on profits and dividends, which is an excrescence. Society has to question this tax system, which is wrong."

During his appearance on the program, the former president of the National Petroleum Agency, Haroldo Lima, stated that Temer offered a simplistic solution to a complex problem.

"We have a fairly large oil reserve, we have a reasonable refining base, which is outdated, very old, and consequently, we buy oil from abroad and, as the price is rising a lot and the dollar too, it is not natural that Petrobras pays the price of these things. But it is also not right that the Brazilian people pay international prices for oil that is Brazilian. During Dilma's time, there were adjustments every three months and it balanced things out. Then Temer comes along and passes all the cost on to the Brazilian people," he criticized.

Another guest on the university radio program, Flávio Tonelli Vaz, technical advisor to the Chamber of Deputies and specialist in budgets and public policies, also criticized Petrobras' pricing policy. "It's not possible for an oil-exporting country to act internally as if it were importing the product. They would have to review their policy," he stated.

According to him, another option would have been to reduce taxes on fuel, but, in his opinion, Temer chose the worst solution. "The worst solution was the subsidy, because it requires cutting resources in areas like health and education," he said. For him, this is "a government of business, not of national interests and development."

According to her, regarding diesel, society will not accept "subsidizing the profits of importers by cutting education and health and increasing costs. Our industry is rightfully rebelling."

Watch the interview: