The state finance secretaries said on Thursday (27) they will freeze the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on fuel for the next 60 days. The measure was approved at an extraordinary meeting of the Finance Policy Committee (Confaz), which is made up secretaries and representatives of the Ministry of Economy. The state secretaries said that freezing the ICMS “will not be enough” to avoid price revisions. According to them, the increases are driven by other factors, such as variations of the US dollar, and Petrobras’ pricing policy, which has been finding oil price fluctuations in the international market. The market has already been expecting new readjustments because of the increase in the share prices of oil and the high gaps in relation to the foreign market. “Comsefaz supports the creation of the equalization fund as a way to prevent oil price revisions from affecting the final price of fuels,” they said in a statement.
Sources: Folha de São Paulo/Nova Cana (*Translated by Ia Niani)