Brazil Cuts Fuel Prices After Strike Leaves Food, Fuel Scarce

Rio de Janeiro, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th May, 2018 ) :Brazil's President Michel Temer, under pressure from a week-long national truckers' strike which led to fuel and food shortages, ceded to protesters' demands Sunday and slashed the cost of diesel. The cut, equal to 46 cents a liter, was to be locked in place for 60 days, the president said in televised remarks, as the strike paralyzes much of the country's economic infrastructure.

Temer also agreed to four other demands truckers made. His decision came after Sergio Etchegoyen, the Minister of Institutional Security, said the country was "on a path to normalization" although he added: "It's not quick." Authorities deployed the military to clear barricades erected by strikers and have been escorting fuel trucks since Friday to maintain access to refineries. But Federal transportation police reported that as of Saturday night, nearly 600 roads were at least partially blocked throughout the sprawling South American country.

Gas stations were virtually out of fuel, and perishable foods were disappearing from store shelves. Now, Temer said: "we have done our part to ease the problems and suffering," mentioning that he heard reports that millions of animals could die of hunger if the crisis did not ease. The average price of diesel was 3.36 reais (92 US cents) in January and rose to 3.6 before the strike, according to news portal G1.

On May 26, it hit 3.8. Brazil is a member of the G20 group of the world's largest emerging and advanced economies, but the first five days of the strike were estimated to have cost the country's economy $2.8 billion, according to the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.