LatAmOil: Brazil’s oil export tax will not be permanent, finance minister says

Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has confirmed that the government’s newly introduced tax on crude oil exports is not permanent but will be eliminated within four months.

According to Haddad, the tax, which is designed to boost federal budget revenues, will be replaced by fuel taxes. Brazil’s fuel tax regime will be reinstated after the four-month period expires, he explained.

In a speech, the finance minister acknowledged that the oil export tax had drawn heavy criticism, particularly from private companies. However, he said, the government saw it as a necessary measure to ensure that the Brazilian economy ended 2022 with a primary deficit of less than 1% of total GDP.

Haddad went on to praise the economic changes introduced by the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He said he believed the president and his administration had the necessary tools at their disposal to stabilise Brazil’s macroeconomic indicators and implement “monetary policy consistent with fiscal policy.”