The quest for a zero fiscal deficit does not end in 2025; it is a long-term vision. A Paraguay with zero-based budgets and primary surpluses could invest more in health, education, and technology, thereby reducing poverty and attracting foreign investment. The cost of inaction would be “too high.” Paraguayan society, from the government down to individual citizens, must write the final chapter of this saga, deciding whether the zero deficit will be a triumph or an unfulfilled dream.

In this installment of the 12-part series titled “The Origins of Paraguay’s Fiscal Imbalance: A Technical and Comparative Perspective,” we examine the dream of a zero fiscal deficit through a data-driven technical analysis, exploring how a zero fiscal deficit is not a neoliberal utopia: it is the sine qua non for Paraguay to stop living on borrowed money and set in motion a virtuous cycle of economic freedom.