The support that the government has granted to Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has had an impact on the oil company’s debt service, which, together with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), has reported a lower financial cost, according to the information from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).
Between January and November of last year, the debt service of the State’s public companies, that is, Pemex and CFE, totaled 103,688 million pesos, which represented a decrease of 40.3% in annual comparison.
This represented the largest decrease on record for a similar period since 2008, when companies’ financial services decreased by 55.5 percent.
In detail, the most pronounced drop was observed in the CFE. According to Treasury data, between January and November 2024 this company disbursed 31,292 million pesos for the payment of interest and other debt services, which represented a drop of 49.4% in its annual comparison.
Meanwhile, Pemex – one of the most indebted oil companies worldwide – allocated 72,396 million pesos to the financial cost of its debt, which represented a decrease of 35.2% compared to the same period last year.
Despite the drop in the debt service of these two public companies, the budgetary financial cost continued to increase due to the persistence of high interest rates that, although they have begun to fall in recent months, remain relatively high.
In this sense, the financial cost of the public sector totaled 928,377 million pesos between January and November of last year, an increase of 4.3% in annual comparison.
“In a context of still restrictive financial conditions, but more favorable compared to 2023, the financial cost increased only 4.3% in real terms during the period from January to November. This result, which was 90,000 million pesos below expectations, reflects prudent and effective financial management in the refinancing operations carried out during the year,” highlighted the Treasury, headed by Rogelio Ramírez de la O.
Invoice to the treasury
The decrease in the financial cost of the debt of these companies, particularly Pemex, is due to the support that has been granted to it since the last six years to address its financial situation, analysts said.
“Pemex’s financial cost has fallen, mainly, thanks to the great support that the federal government has given it through transfers via the Ministry of Energy, as well as the reduction of the different taxes paid by the oil company. This has allowed the company to have financial surpluses, to borrow less and, in turn, the financial cost of its debt to decrease,” explained Jorge Cano, coordinator of the Public Expenditure program of Mexico Evalúa.
He recalled that, in the last government, the placement of a part of Pemex’s debt began to be carried out through the Ministry of Finance, which allowed Pemex to access slightly cheaper financing.
On the CFE side, it indicated that in 2023 a strong increase in debt service was observed because it incurred significant deficits due to the increase in the cost of fuel and production, while in 2024 these began to stabilize, which which in turn is observed in lower debt service.
Public companies
Last year, President Claudia Sheinbaum signed the decree with which, once again, Pemex and CFE became public companies of the State, leaving behind the figure of productive companies of the State.
“Pemex and CFE return to being companies of the people of Mexico. Our commitment is that they will be efficiently operated companies that will provide services, fuel and electricity at affordable prices for everyone (…) It is important to know that there is also a space for private investment, that is, Pemex and CFE return to being public companies of the people of Mexico and a space for private investment is maintained, which will be established with order, with certainty, in the secondary laws,” the President said at the time.
In this sense, Cesar Rivera, researcher at the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP), indicated that the secondary laws of these companies must be modified, where they must explain what will happen to their financial cost once they become public.
“How is the financial cost going to work? Whose is it going to be? If it is officially going to be part of the federal government, or what will happen. There are many doubts about this and it will depend on how it is reflected in the secondary laws,” said the researcher.
