LatinNews Daily - 1 August 2024

*Mexico’s Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O has said that Mexico’s public debt is forecast to reach 48.6% of GDP by the end of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term on 30 September. He said that under the López Obrador government, which took office in December 2018, public debt as a percentage of GDP had increased by 4.9 percentage points but the 48.6% figure was less than the 48.8% authorised by the federal congress for this year. He also said that the increase was less than that which took place under previous administrations. Ramírez de la O, who will continue in his post under the next Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) administration to be led by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, which takes office on 1 October, highlighted the government’s focus on balancing income and expenditure, with strategies supporting household incomes. As key achievements of the outgoing government, he cited a 114% minimum wage increase in real terms, regional development, and balancing public finances.