Brazil is considering cutting fuel taxes: could Argentina adopt a similar measure?
The neighboring country would take this measure so that naphtha and, particularly, diesel oil does not continue to increase, given that the international price of oil has risen sharply in recent weeks. Experts consider that Argentina is not in a position to adopt a similar policy. In March a new rise could arrive.
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On Friday of last week, the Brazilian Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, announced at a press conference with the president, Jair Bolsonaro, the possibility of cutting the tax on liquid fuels in that country.
The government’s strategy is to prevent gasoline and diesel from continuing to rise, in the heat of the increase in the price of an international barrel of oil, where Brent is priced at $ 55 and WTI at $ 52.
Guedes stressed that this measure would ease the tax burden on fuels in general, but on diesel in particular, taking into account that Brazilian truckers have threatened to go on strike throughout the country due to successive hikes.
“Whenever the international price of crude increases, there is this possibility of lowering taxes so that the refineries can charge a little more and that does not impact the consumer.”Explains the surtidores.com.ar, Cristian Folgar, former Undersecretary of Fuels of the Nation.
However, for the former official it is difficult for this to happen in Argentina due to the delicate fiscal situation in which the country finds itself. “I do not see possible that today the nation and the provinces (since this type of tax is shared) are in a position to resign those revenues”, He says.
NEW UPLOAD IN MARCH
It should be noted that since the beginning of 2021, fuels in Argentina have increased by around 8.5 percent.
Oil companies warn that a good part of these increases have to do with price transfers, both from increases in the value of biofuels and from adjustments for inflation of the tax on liquid fuels and carbon dioxide.
And this tax must now go up again. On March 15, it should be updated in proportion to the accumulated inflation of the last quarter of 2020.
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