RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras announced on Friday it is raising fuel prices, infuriating President Jair Bolsonaro as he faces an inflationary spike and a re-election bid in October.
Painful price increases, especially for food and fuel, have emerged as a key weak spot for the far-right incumbent.
Petrobras, the largest company in Latin America, said it will hike gasoline prices by 5.18 per cent and diesel prices by 14.26 per cent.
It blamed “a challenging scenario in Brazil and the world”, the latter a reference to the war in Ukraine, which has triggered higher oil prices around the world.
Brazil has already seen fuel prices surge by over 33 per cent in the past year, according to official figures – with the last spike in gasoline and diesel rates coming three months ago.
Bolsonaro reacted angrily saying Petrobras “could sink Brazil in chaos”. In May, Bolsonaro dismissed the president of Petrobras, who had been in the job for just 40 days, with the country’s Energy Ministry saying that Brazil is currently experiencing a challenging moment.