In the first two months of the year, tax collection had its best performance since 2015, advancing 8.2 percent. The milestone highlighted by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit did not compensate for a 30.5 percent increase in public spending, which was driven by federal government expenditures that, alone, shot up 47.9 percent.
This increase in government spending – which includes autonomous, general branches (such as debt payment) and the operation of the Secretariats of State – occurred in the preamble of the electoral ban, which imposes restrictions on how They disseminate and distribute social programs. Hence, spending on agencies increased 137.3 percent, according to tax reports.
Knowing about the electoral ban, the Treasury projected that spending for the period would reach one billion 742 thousand 468.9 million pesos in the first two months of the year, but this forecast was slightly below. One billion 651 thousand 507.5 million ended up being spent.
Among the components of the federal government’s spending, that of the autonomous branches advanced 22 percent, that of the general branches 4 percent and that of the administrative branches 137.3 percent. The Treasury highlighted that resources for social development registered an advance of 44.5 percent.
Tax collection rises 8.2%
When reporting on public finances and debt as of February, the Treasury highlighted the increase in collection. However, this fell short of the escalation of expenses. The public deficit practically tripled between the first two months of last year compared to 2024, going from 141 thousand 369.3 million pesos to 459 thousand 468.2 million.
Until February, total public income – coming from the oil industry and from collections in the rest of the productive sectors – increased 6.8 percent annually. Despite this, 7,214 million pesos are below expectations.
The federal government’s oil revenues fell 83 percent. On the contrary, within the non-oil sector, collection increased 8.2 percent annually. The dynamism of private consumption during the first months of the year boosted VAT collection, which was 4.1 percent in real terms above the first two months of 2023
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Meanwhile, the ISR registered an increase of 0.5 percent. The reduction of tax incentives for gasoline caused deposits via IEPS to rise 74.1 percent.