🐉 Brazil’s inflation hydra

Good morning! The Federal Police will issue an additional report to the Supreme Court regarding investigations into the far-right coup attempt that culminated in the attacks of January 8, 2023. The document should include information gathered during a November operation, in which feds arrested five Army figures for an alleged plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lula is rattled by rising food costs. Fuel prices are about to go up, too

Magda Chambriard, chief executive of Brazil’s state-controlled oil major Petrobras, reportedly alerted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to an imminent increase in diesel prices. Gasoline, meanwhile, will hold steady for the time being.

State of play. Brazil’s currency slump — the real lost 27% of its value against the dollar last year — has widened the gap between Petrobras’s prices and international benchmarks. Currently, the gap stands at 7% for gasoline and 17% for diesel. 

• While these figures are down from 14% and 27% just a week ago, the pricing disparity has cost Petrobras about BRL 20 billion (USD 3.4 billion) in revenue, according to Refina Brasil, an association of private oil refineries.

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