FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas is pictured during a meeting of the LIDE (Businessmen Leaders Group) in Campos do Jordao, Brazil, April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government pledged 500 million reais ($129 million) of loans from a state bank for independent truckers on Tuesday, amid other measures designed to avoid a threatened strike.
At a news conference, presidential Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni and Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas announced the concessions to truckers angry about high diesel prices, but remained mum on any possible changes to Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s fuel pricing policy. A Tuesday afternoon meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro will deal with the thornier issue of diesel pricing at Petrobras, as the state-run oil firm is known.
Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Gram Slattery