“That levels the field. The only difference now is that Petróleo Paraguayos (Petropar) will operate without profit for a while, but that is manageable,” added the President of the Chamber of Fuel Traders, Miguel Bazán.
The repeal of the budget law for this state-owned company is very necessary, both for the private sector and for the general public, the director of this group of people assured the ABC Color newspaper.
The horrors experienced in those days of this legislation (promulgated on March 25 by President Mario Abdo Benítez) were terrible and now we will all pay (the subsidy) with our taxes.
“The private sector – he assured – is open to dialogue, but it is always best not to subsidize. If a particular sector needs it then something should be done for that sector and that way it can be better measured and planned for.”
“Now there is no longer any need for readjustment. We will follow this call closely,” Bazán responded to Deputy Trade Minister Pedro Mancuello’s announcement of new tariff changes amid a new escalation in international oil prices.
The private sector head recalled that a barrel of US crude (West Texas Intermediate) is at $102, “but unless it goes below 85, we can’t say the drop is enough.”
“We hope that international production can meet the growing demand independently of Russian production,” he commented, citing the impact of the conflict in Ukraine, which is affecting the current global fuel crisis.
The private petrol stations repeatedly protested against the passage of Law 6900/2022 of March 25, which created funds to reduce fuel prices in Petropar petrol stations.
Relevant decisions between Monday and Tuesday by the National Congress and the Executive Branch overturned that ordinance and precluded approval of another proposal to invest a $100 million budget to lower prices.
Paraguay has been suffering from high fuel prices since February 26, the date the executive branch raised them for the second time this year and the sixth time in 12 months.
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