For this period, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) had scheduled an expense of 8,426 billion pesos, but 8,208 billion were reported, this represents an under-year of 218,600 million pesos. Compared to last year, spending grew only 2.5% in real terms, detailed figures updated at the end of the penultimate month of the year.
States and municipalities pay the cuts
The greatest underexercise was observed in programmable spending, mainly in general branches, which group resources to transfer to states and municipalities with the objective of covering expenses such as the payment of salaries of public officials, economic incentives, contributions for education systems, public security, social infrastructure and health.
These general branches reported a difference between what was programmed and what was observed of 113.4 billion pesos. While spending for CFE reported 34.7 billion pesos less.
Also the reduction of the RFSP was due to a lower expense than that approved for the payment of interest on the debt of 54.8 billion pesos less.
“The fiscal balances showed favorable results regarding the program. The budget deficit was 91,000 million pesos less than expected, while the primary budget surplus exceeded the programmed by 37,000 million pesos. The RFSP amounted to 1,168 trillion pesos, remaining within the ceilings approved by the H. Congress of the Union,” the agency highlighted in a statement.
Over the course of the year, cuts to public spending have been reported with the objective of reducing the fiscal deficit or RFSP. The Treasury’s goal is to reduce the RFSP to 4.3% of GDP this year and to 4.1% by 2026. The proportion at the end of 2024 was 5.8% of GDP, “an unprecedented figure that will put pressure on public finances in 2025 and beyond,” says an analysis by the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP).
What do the Treasury cuts amount to?
The 218,600 million pesos that the Treasury reports from underexercises or adjustments to public spending are enough to cover all the Benito Juárez Scholarship Programs scheduled for 2026, which total 184,595 million. They are twice the budget for all new trains for the following year: 104,576 million. They represent half of all spending approved for 2026 for priority investment programs and projects: 536,806 million.
“Operating expenses other than personal services decreased 5.5% in real terms annually, in line with the criteria of austerity, efficiency and combating corruption,” highlighted the SHCP headed by Édgar Amador Zamora.
He detailed that the Historical Balance of the RFSP, that is, the total public debt of the federal government, was located at 51.7% of GDP, below the level of 52% observed at the end of 2024. At the end of November, the federal government’s liability portfolio was denominated mostly in national currency, at a fixed rate and with long-term maturities.
“In a context of still restrictive financial conditions, the accumulated financial cost as of November increased 11.2% in real terms annually; however, thanks to the active management of liabilities, it was 54.8 billion pesos below what was anticipated in the program,” the Treasury reported.
