The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, suggested that, if a fruit has a high price, the consumer can change the food they will consume as a way of circumventing the rise in the price of the product. The minister gave the example of orange: “Instead of orange, eat another fruit.”
“The international price is as expensive as it is here. What can be done? Change the fruit we are going to consume. Instead of oranges, consume another fruit”, Rui Costa told journalists this Friday, 24th. “There is no point in lowering the import tax, because there is no product abroad to put in here. So we will focus, obviously, on the product that is cheapest out there.”
Read more:
The statement came after a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this Friday. In addition to the president and Rui Costa, ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Esther Dweck (Management), Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture) and Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) participated; the executive secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Márcio Elias Rosa; the executive secretary of the Ministry of Agrarian Development, Fernanda Machiaveli; the Secretary of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Finance, Guilherme Mello; and the CEO of the National Supply Company (Conab), Edegar Pretto.
Also this Friday afternoon, Rui Costa said that the government will work to reduce the import tariff on foods that are more expensive in the domestic market compared to the international market.
According to him, there is no justification for the country to have products priced above the international level. “All products that have a higher internal price than the external price, we will immediately act on the import tax”, he stated.
Continues after advertising
According to the head of the Civil House, federal management will analyze products on the international market with lower prices compared to the domestic market.
“The rate reduction will be for any and all products that are cheaper on the international market and more expensive on the domestic market”, he added. “We will clearly focus on the product that is cheapest abroad, to bring the price to at least the level it is internationally.”
