Food, energy and fuel prices are President Lula’s obsession, says minister | Economy

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said this Monday, the 1st, that the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has a great obsession: the price. “Food prices, energy prices, fuel prices, so that we can, respecting the market, combat inequality,” he said. Silveira will have a meeting this Monday with President Lula and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, to discuss the topic.

He also suggested the need to seek sources of financing for the country to continue advancing in the expansion of renewable energy and indicated that one of these sources could be taxes on the oil sector. “He [o petróleo] It is a great source of financing for health and education through the social fund, and it can also be, through taxes, a great source of financing for affordable electricity prices”, he said.

According to the minister, one of the problems in the area of ​​electricity is the subsidies embedded in the electricity bill, which end up making the values ​​heavier for consumers. “It has become almost a habit to push all subsidies into the CDE (Energy Development Account), creating great distortion in Brazil,” he said, during an interview with GloboNews. “We cannot depress the economy with the energy bill, which has grown gallopingly in recent years as a result of subsidies embedded in the CDE, some important for the energy transition, but many others unnecessary”, stated the minister.

Transmission lines

The minister confirmed that he had sent a provisional measure to the Civil House last Friday, 29th, to “make compatible” the transmission lines with renewable projects. In practice, as shown by Broadcast Energia (Grupo Estado’s real-time news system), if published, the text will give more time for wind and solar plants to come into operation, guaranteeing the right to subsidies in transmission and distribution tariffs.

Silveira alleges that the Bolsonaro government was omitted in relation to deadlines for contracting transmission lines for the flow of renewable energy produced in the Northeast and attributed the need to give more time to new contracts to the need to “nurture international recognition” of respect for contracts. renewable energy.

The assessment is that many projects may come into operation without the transmission lines being ready, which would make distribution unfeasible.