At the end of October, the gap between public spending growth and government income was reduced compared to September, although the public deficit remained above one trillion pesos, according to the latest public finances and debt report of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).
The federal government had budget revenues of 6 billion 186,712 million pesos between January and October 2024, a growth of 2.1% in real terms compared to the same period of the previous year.
However, net public spending at the end of October was 7 trillion 225,990 million pesos, a real increase of 6.4% compared to January-October of the previous year.
In this way, the public deficit was one trillion 39,279 million pesos and the gap between income growth and spending was 4.3 percentage points; At the end of September it was 5.8 percentage points.
The tax collectionwhich was the main source of budget income for the government, grew 5.3% in real terms in January-October 2024, totaling 4 trillion 80,976 million pesos.
While in the spending part, public investment stood out, which amounted to 861,409 million pesos in the first ten months of the year, an increase of 9.7% in real terms and also the highest figure for a similar period since 2016, the latter according to data from México Evalúa.
“The urgency to finish the priority works of the Government of López Obrador boosted investment in infrastructure from January to October (…) However, investment by Pemex, education, culture or environmental protection continue to decline,” the organization highlighted.
The SCHP assured in a statement that “in the accumulated period to October, public finances remained healthy, with budget deficit levels lower than anticipated in the program and a sustainable level of debt.”
Programmable spending – which is what the government allocates to provide goods and services to the population and in fact, is what it can modify at its discretion – grew 6.6% at the end of October, to 5 billion 236,567 million pesos.
While non-programmable spending – which is that which the government allocates to fulfill its obligations and cannot manipulate at its discretion – increased 5.9% in real terms, to one trillion 989,424 million pesos.
Financial cost, below schedule
The financial cost of debt amounted to 913,065 million pesos in January-October, which, although it represented a growth of 5.9% in real terms compared to 2023, was 54,000 million below schedule.
The Secretary of the Treasury explained that the lower financial cost of debt Regarding the program, it is explained by the refinancing operations that the federal government has carried out throughout the year, the last of which was just last week.
The net debt of the public sector stood at 16 trillion 949,819 million pesos at the end of the tenth month of this year.
Financial cost, below schedule
The tax collection continued to be the boost to budgetary revenues at the end of October, as oil revenues showed a real drop of 12.4% compared to the same period last year, to 829,272 million pesos, due to lower crude oil production and lower prices. of natural gas, explained the Treasury.
While the Collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) increased 2.3%, to one trillion 149,185 million pesos, thanks to the “good performance of private consumption”, while the Income Tax (ISR) grew 1.5%, to 2 trillion 228,714 million pesos, according to the report .
The 33% growth in the collection of the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) stands out, to 507,497 million pesos, due to the reduction of fiscal stimuli on gasoline in 2024.
