Government takes R$ 10.5 bn of diesel out of the fiscal target and insists the money keeps leaving, just off the books
The economic team explains that the spending still exists but no longer counts, which in Brasília is the most advanced form of saving.
The government has presented a bill authorising up to R$ 10.5 billion in diesel subsidies to be removed from the 2026 fiscal target. Diesel is still subsidised. The target is still met. Only reality has been left out.
According to the economic team, the method is simple: the spending that gets in the way of the target moves into an annex where the target is not allowed. The deficit does not shrink, but it changes address.
An adviser who asked not to be identified summed up the doctrine: "The target is like the bathroom scales. You can meet it in the morning, as long as nobody steps on it."
The Finance Ministry is considering extending the method to other expenses and creating a General Annex of Everything That Gets in the Way, with its own budget and no target.
An economist who has already given up estimates that the fiscal adjustment will be complete when the last expense has been declared extraordinary. The taxpayer, for his part, remains ordinary.
The target is like the bathroom scales. You can meet it in the morning, as long as nobody steps on it.
The reality behind the satire
Real news · www1.folha.uol.com.br · 11 November
Meta fiscal: governo quer tirar até R$ 10,5 bilhões em subsídios ao diesel
This story, published by a real newspaper, inspired the piece above. The Falsumundi piece is made up; this story is not.
