LatinNews Daily - 11 September 2023

*Mexico’s finance minister, Rogelio Ramírez de la O, has presented the government’s draft 2024 budget to the federal congress. The budget proposal, for some M$9.02trn (US$515bn), represents a 4.3% increase in real terms on that approved for 2023, and is made up of M$6.4trn corresponding to paid programmable spending and M$2.6trn associated with non-programmable spending, which includes the financial cost of the debt, and contributions to states and municipalities. The budget forecasts economic growth of between 2.5% and 3.5% next year, with annual inflation forecast at 3.8%, which would bring it within the target range of Mexico’s central bank (Banxico). The draft budget also estimates the exchange rate for the Mexican peso at 17.10 pesos per US dollar by the end of 2024, signalling continued strength for the currency. In a statement, the finance ministry (SHCP), stated that the draft budget included an “unprecedented level” of spending on social development, equivalent to 12.8% of GDP. It also notes that tax take would reach a “historic maximum” of 14.4% of GDP in 2024, which would be achieved without increasing or creating new taxes but was “thanks to tax efficiency measures, the fight against tax evasion and the dynamism of economic activity”.