President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) was charged to his ministers to seek ways to contain the price of food has taken a crisis into the Planalto Palace, but amid a high dollar scenario and rising international prices, The options are limited and the government does not have a short -term concrete action, sources involved in the discussions said.
“There is very little today that the government can do. Can take some measures, but it’s all partial, or with residual impact, ”he told Reuters A government source that participates in food inflation conversations.
“The price of commodities today is high. Even if you increase the area produced, the producer will sell for the best price. It will not sell in the domestic market to help the industry, ”he added.
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The issue of high food prices was brought by the president to Monday’s ministerial meeting. Lula questioned the ministers of agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and agrarian development, Paulo Teixeira, if there were measures in studies to try to contain the discharge, and was annoyed when he heard that there was nothing.
The charge has led to a sequence of meetings in recent days and also to a series of mismatched information. After a new meeting on Friday between Lula and auxiliaries, Civil House Minister Rui Costa had to promise that there will be no “heterodox measures” to try to contain prices such as state supermarkets, subsidies or price freezing.
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“Some suggestions were presented, but I would say that the flagship, to summarize, is that the president asked them to give an increase lens, greater focus, when defining existing public policies and that these stimuli focus on greater focus In the products that are in our basic basket, ”said Costa.
Asked how to act when the government has limited tools, as the problem is the high dollar and commodities on the rise, the Minister of Agriculture stressed that the focus is to adopt measures to incentive to increase production, as was done with rice last year .
The government is also studying in moving rules of the Worker Feeding Program (PAT) – the feed and meal tickets – which today has very high management rates, and decrease food import rates that are more expensive. in Brazil than in the international market.
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According to the sources heard by ReutersThese measures can reduce costs, but admit that impacts are limited.
