Video by Luciano Hang takes data on purchasing power in the Lula and Bolsonaro governments out of context

The content of a video that shows businessman Luciano Hang reading values ​​from the years 2006 and 2022 is misleading, comparing the purchasing power of gasoline in the Lula and Bolsonaro governments based on the minimum wage.

In fact, with a minimum wage, today it would be possible to supply 44 liters more than in 2006, but Hang does not show in his video that purchasing power today is the second lowest since the last term of Lula’s government. In November 2021, under the Bolsonaro government, purchasing power was even lower compared to 2011.

Specialists consulted by Comprova also point to a series of flaws in the comparison. The value of the minimum wage in the table used to refer to the PT government refers to the year 2005, not 2006, as reported. The correct number is BRL 350.00, not BRL 300.00, as stated by the businessman in the video, considering the adjustment that took effect from April of that year. Currently, the value is corrected in the month of January.

Also according to economists, the minimum wage underwent major readjustments above inflation from 2006 onwards, which makes the comparison of the chosen month, when the new policy had not yet been implemented, with 2022 prices incoherent.

The video verified here also does not correct the price of a barrel of oil for the current reality. In the analyzed period, the accumulated inflation of the dollar is 40%. In practice, this means that a barrel of 2006 in 2022 values ​​costs 91 dollars, a level similar to the average calculated at the beginning of the year.

Comprova classified the content as misleading because it uses inaccurate data.

What the author of the publication says: Comprova got in touch with businessman Luciano Hang through the Havan stores’ press office. Asked about the choice of the year 2006 to prepare the table, the businessman replied that “this was the year that ex-president Lula was re-elected for another term. It was important to bring data that reinforce that the country was far from the economic prosperity that the lying narratives of the PT defended”.

According to him, the purpose of the video “was to deconstruct false narratives that have been perpetuated. We compared the information, aiming to clarify the public. Even using the information you posted, the result shows even more the bad management of the PT in Brazil”.

Regarding the data used in the table, Hang stated that he resorted to “Brazilian legislation to obtain information and various information vehicles”. Links were sent to reports published in the week of 03/08, when the price of gasoline calculated by the ANP hit R$ 8 in some Brazilian capitals and the barrel of oil approached 130 dollars, driven by the war in Ukraine.

The user who posted the video on TikTok has no more information on their profile, other than their name. It has 2,924 followers and has published three videos. One of them, the excerpt from Luciano Hang’s recording, from March 14, 2022.

In the original video, the businessman mentions that he has four gas stations, which, according to him, makes him understand the subject. There is no information about the sources used for data collection.

Understand how the price of gasoline is calculated in Brazil

How do we check: We turned to specialists in the field of fuels and economics: Cloviomar Cararine, technician from DIEESE (Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies) in the Subsection of the FUP (Federação Único dos Petroleiros), in Rio de Janeiro, and the professor of economics at USP ( University of São Paulo) Paulo Feldmann.

We also calculated the values ​​tabulated by DIEESE, ANP (National Petroleum Agency) and US government and Central Bank of Brazil databases to arrive at the correct numbers suggested in the video.

distorted values

In the table shown in the video and in which Luciano Hang refers to the government of former President Lula, the businessman uses incorrect data as a basis for comparison. According to the ANP, the average value of gasoline in 2006 was R$2.55, not R$2.50. The minimum wage in January 2006 was still based on the 2005 value of R$ 300. However, according to experts consulted by Comprova, the correct value would be to consider the current value for the year that began, of R$ 350, adopted from April.

Thus, using the same calculation adopted in the video (minimum wage divided by the value of a liter of gasoline), a minimum wage in 2006 allowed the purchase of 137 liters of gasoline, not 120, as reported.

In relation to the 2022 numbers, the average price of gasoline in the week in which the recording was made was R$ 6.68 a liter, and not R$ 8. The number chosen, as the author himself mentions, concerns a the maximum values ​​calculated by the ANP, in Rio de Janeiro, and not the average price found in most of the more than five thousand gas stations consulted by the agency.

Considering the current minimum wage of R$1,212 and using the same calculation logic, purchasing power is 181 liters, not 150. Therefore, the current purchasing power is greater than that reported by Hang in the video.

DIEESE technician Cloviomar Cararine pays attention to the temporal choice of the video, which, according to him, does not inform contexts that could explain the results obtained. “The author failed to say that the minimum wage has been growing above inflation since 2006 and, at the same time, gasoline will only undergo major readjustments from 2018 onwards.”

A survey carried out by DIEESE in 2006, for example, shows that the purchasing power in that year was the highest since 1979 until then. The survey only considered basic food items, not including fuel.

In the following years, the average price of gasoline remained practically stable, while the minimum wage continued to be readjusted, including a real increase – that is, in addition to inflation. In 2007, for example, the fuel ended the year at R$ 2.50, according to the ANP. That year, the minimum wage rose to R$380, which raised purchasing power to 152 liters.

Professor at the USP Economics School Paulo Feldmann also draws attention to the price of a barrel of oil considered in the video. “You have to take that value from 2006 and correct for today’s inflation, because 61 dollars in 2006 is completely different from 61 dollars today. Inflation in the United States is at least 2% a year. But there were years when it was more. This past year it was 7%.”

Between 2006 and 2022, the accumulated inflation of the dollar is 40%. With the correction, the price of a barrel of oil from 2006 in 2022 values ​​is 91 dollars. In the week of publication of the video, the value of the Brent type product was 112 dollars and the WTI type, 107 dollars, impacted by the war in Ukraine. In January of this year, however, the barrel closed at 89 dollars. According to Paulo Feldmann, the data show that “the barrel of oil today is practically the same as in 2006”.

Another point mentioned by the businessman that can lead to a distortion of reality due to the lack of correction is the cost of gasoline at the pumps, despite not being considered in the calculation that evaluates purchasing power. Corrected by the IPCA, the country’s official inflation measured by the IBGE, the liter of fuel at R$ 2.55 in 2006 is equivalent to R$ 6.19 in 2022. The number is close to the average practiced at the gas stations currently, of R$ 6 .68 a litre.

Looking only at the numbers, it is possible to say that, currently, the purchasing power is, in fact, greater. However, we reinforce that this conclusion is related to a process of appreciation of the minimum wage that began in 2000.

Taking into account the real values ​​of the comparison that the video proposed, without correction for inflation, we would have the following data:

why do we investigate: Comprova is committed to investigating suspicious content related to the pandemic, public policies of the federal government and elections. The team focuses on viral posts, which have had wide reach on social media and can cause misinformation.

On TikTok, the video presented by Luciano Hang exceeded 72 thousand interactions until March 22. On the entrepreneur’s Instagram, there is a screen print with the values ​​presented in the video. The content was posted on March 11, and the social network warns about the flaw in the material. “Lack of context. The same information was analyzed by fact checkers,” the notice reads.

The video in question alters official data computed by independent agencies, contributing to misinformation on matters of national relevance that affect most of the population, such as fuel.

Scope of publication: The TikTok account that published the viral clipping has just over 4,000 followers, but the video in question has 2 million views, having been liked by more than 72,000 people, with 42,000 shares on WhatsApp.

The original video, published on Luciano Hang’s official page, has 54 thousand likes and 1.4 million views.

Other checks on the topic: The same content was analyzed by UOL Confere and by the Estadão Verifies team, which concluded, as did Comprova, that the publication is misleading.