Residents of Brasilia woke up this morning to yet another hike in gasoline prices. According to the Correio Braziliense newspaper some gas stations are already charging from R$3.02 a liter ($7.30 a gallon) for regular gasoline, to R$3.17 a liter ($7.66 a gallon) for "aditivada" gasoline.
Just four days ago I wrote that Petrobras' distribution arm had promised not pass on additional costs to gas station owners given that the new crop of sugar cane was being processed all across the country. Petrobras blamed rising costs of gasoline on the high price of ethanol (made from sugar cane), that by federal law it must blend into all gasoline sold in Brazil. Obviously they cannot be trusted nor believed.
The Correio said that all gasoline stations across the Distrito Federal would be raising their gasoline prices above the R$3 a liter level by next week. With nearly 40 percent of the cost of a liter of gasoline going to federal and local taxes, both the federal and local governments could do something to ease the pain of motorists at the pump. Unfortunately for us, that is highly unlikely as neither wants to see a reduction in revenue that these gas taxes help rake in. Shame on them!
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