We are in decisive months to continue promoting the growth of the country. The economic and social situation requires that the authorities approve an Economic Package and, above all, a budget in accordance with the main challenges we face as a nation.
However, I have identified various areas of opportunity in the proposal for the 2023 Economic Package sent from the Executive Power to the Legislative Power, which contains the Income Law, the Expenditure Budget of the Federation and the General Economic Policy Criteria.
On the one hand, it seems positive that the Income Law does not have new taxes or increases in existing ones, although there are specific incentives to boost the economy.
Mexico is the only country in Latin America that has not been able to recover the economic situation prior to the pandemic, which is why I propose a series of incentives to boost investment and economic reactivation, which are not in the proposed Economic Package.
Among the areas of opportunity, there is the proposal that is based on unrealistic and imprecise scenarios, which starts from an income deficit of 1.2 billion pesos. Among the inaccuracies detected, the federal government expects a growth of 3%, when specialists place it between 1.4% and 1.5%. Regarding inflation, both in the estimate at the end of this year, and what will happen in 2023, there are considerable differences between what the federal government expects and what Banxico proposes, as an institution specialized in the subject.
Therefore, there is concern that these imprecise scenarios may imply future budget cuts, since they do not have the expected resources, and this affects strategic areas.
In addition, issues such as education, health and safety are those that require a significant boost from the budget. In the case of health and education, increases of 4% and 5% in real terms are contemplated, which we hope will be used to improve the quality of both services.
While, in security, there is concern that the increase is for the Secretary of National Defense, Sedena (continuing the militaristic approach proposed by the current federal government) and that this does not include the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, despite that it is essential to strengthen the state and municipal police, in a crisis scenario in terms of insecurity where strategies are required to guarantee public security, not militarization.
I call on the Deputies so that, as part of one of their most important tasks, they carefully analyze and discuss the 2023 Economic Package proposal sent by the Federal Executive, where it is essential that they validate that the most important issues in the country are being driven.
The budget is the strategic instrument to build a better future for Mexico, which is why the fight against poverty, health, education, and insecurity must be addressed from there, and of course, with the strategic vision of economic growth, such as contemplating a more diversified investment that is not limited to strategic federal projects such as Dos Bocas and the Mayan Train, which, moreover, have been opaque; as well as increasing the budget for the tourism sector, one of the most affected by the pandemic, which has not yet been fully recovered.
It is in the hands of the legislators to support a realistic budget that meets the real needs.
There is no time to lose to build a prosperous, inclusive and peaceful Mexico. As citizens we ask our representatives to make the best decisions for the country.
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Editor’s note: José Medina Mora is National President of Coparmex. The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
