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On Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out the approval of new taxes and a gasoline price increase for next year, despite tensions in international markets due to the war in the Middle East, which has put upward pressure on oil prices and hit the economies of many countries.
Sheinbaum announced this while presenting the guidelines for the economic package and the initiatives for 2027 fiscal expenditures and revenues—submitted to Congress on Tuesday for discussion—which will be largely supported by tax collection, expected to increase by 5.9%. The government seeks to apply stricter controls on corporate tax deductions to avoid tax evasion.
"There are no new taxes for the people. There are no gas price hikes," Sheinbaum said in her usual daily conference. She assured that if the rise in oil prices persists—which on Wednesday exceeded 100 dollars per barrel—her government will continue to promote incentives to reduce expenses for companies in the gasoline sector and prevent fuel prices from rising in the Mexican market.
"It is a responsible economic package" and "the country is not taking on debt," the president stated, insisting that the priority will continue to be serving the population.
Sheinbaum reported that for the coming year, budgets will be increased for education (10.7%), science (11.3%), health (11.5%), and the agricultural sector (20.6%). Likewise, a 11.5% increase is expected in the security budget for the expansion of the National Guard and intelligence and investigation areas, the president detailed.
In the 2027 expenditure budget project, estimated at 10.6 trillion pesos (about 623.5 billion dollars), 1.1 trillion pesos (about 64.705 billion dollars) will be allocated for social plans known as "well-being programs," and priority will be given to investments in roads, the construction of new trains, and hydraulic works.
The deficit, an endless headache
Mexican Secretary of Finance, Edgar Amador, affirmed that the government's priority for the next year will be "to have healthy public finances that are sustainable in the long term."
To reach that goal, Mexican authorities have set a target for 2027 of a fiscal deficit of 3.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which will be slightly below the 4.1% forecast for this year.
Upon starting her six-year term in October 2024, Sheinbaum inherited from her predecessor and political mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), a fiscal deficit of 5.8%, which she has been progressively reducing over the last two years with sharp cuts in public spending and investment.
One of the aspects of the new economic package that has generated the most concern among analysts is the heavy public debt, which is expected to reach 55% of GDP next year, exceeding the 2024 net debt by three percentage points.
Although the government has projected a reduction of about 1.3% in the budget for the indebted Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for 2027, the economic package contemplates that the state-owned company will receive 81.1 billion pesos (about 4.77 billion dollars) from the Ministry of Finance for the amortization of its financial debt, which stood at 84.5 billion dollars last February.
[Publicidad]