Lula government retreats and fuel exemption should last between 30 and 60 days

The exemption from federal fuel taxes should be extended, at least, for a period between 30 and 60 days through a provisional measure that will be edited by President Lula shortly after his inauguration. The deadline is the attempt for an exit agreed between the economic team and the political core around the PT.

sources told CNN that the biggest concern around Fernando Haddad is about the reaction of truck drivers, who keep a threat of reaction to an increase in diesel.

The pressure for the government to retreat also came from Congress. This Friday, the mayor, Arthur Lira, told allies that the problem would be solved. Hours later, information circulated among parliamentarians that the Lula government would give up the idea of ​​suspending the fuel measure as of January 1st.

The choice to renew the exemption is already considered the first political defeat of Fernando Haddad, future finance minister, for Gleisi Hoffmann, president of the PT. Investigation by Caio Junqueira reveals that friction between the group commanded by Hoffman and Haddad’s team, which is against extending the exemptions, was poorly received by the future minister’s economic advisers.

In the internal debate between Lula and his closest allies, there is pressure for the new government to extend the benefit without a set deadline. According to CNN investigation, Haddad works to convince the president-elect that the best thing to do is to shorten the validity of the exemption to gain time until the mapping of the fiscal situation is more advanced.

On CNN, this Saturday, government leader Randolfe Rodrigues defended that Lula’s team should assess the political and social costs of the matter.

“We cannot run the risk, due to circumstances of all kinds, of taking an abrupt measure in this direction. A measure in this sense must be at least staggered, dialogued, we cannot suspend the exemption from one moment to another. This would have political consequences and, above all, it would bring social consequences at this moment of debilitation, ”he said.

Calculations made by market economists estimate an increase of up to R$ 0.89 per liter of gasoline and R$ 0.35 in the case of diesel.

The economic team of the new government considers that fiscal balance throughout the year, with the return of more than R$ 52 billion in revenue due to the end of exemptions, would be more important now. At least until the new fiscal framework was presented and approved by the National Congress.