MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico has room to increase tax revenues next year without embarking on deep budget reforms, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday, with her government expected to present its budget proposal later in the day.
Sheinbaum said her government could roll out strategies to boost revenues from tax authorities SAT and through customs.
“If additional reforms are needed, we will work on them next year,” Sheinbaum said, adding that “there are still many opportunities to increase revenues without the need for deep budget reform.”
The comments from Sheinbaum, who took office in early October, come a day after Moody’s Ratings cut its outlook for Mexico from stable to negative.
The ratings agency pointed to a weakening of institutions and policies that risks undermining both the economy and government accounts, which Sheinbaum dismissed Friday when asked about it.
Sheinbaum has inherited Mexico’s largest budget deficit since the 1980s, and analysts have wondered how she can deliver on campaign promises to raise welfare and the minimum wage while reining in the deficit.
The president and her treasury secretary agree that next year’s budget must include significant deficit reduction.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortes; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
