Opinion article published in El Economista, Opinión / Nombres, Nombres y… Nombres [Opinion / Names, Names … and Names] Section by Alberto Aguilar.
Read the note in its original source
If in 2020, due to the austerity of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conditions in regard to contribution and participation matters for the states are unfavorable, next year’s scenario looks even worse.
The SHCP [Ministry of Finance and Public Credit], headed by Arturo Herrera, cut the allocations for these concepts by 5.5%, which can represent up to 90% of the income of many states, in addition to the fact that, because of the crisis, their own collection will not recover.
In this context, yesterday, September 10, the first meeting of the Conago [National Conference of Governors] chaired by Juan Manuel Carreras with the Segob [Department of the Interior], headed by Olga Sánchez Cordero was held, this time without the governors who chose to disassociate themselves.
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, NL, Durango, Michoacán, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Colima and Guanajuato, a third of its members, left.
Although they were invited, the absence of Javier Corral, Jaime Rodríguez, Enrique Alfaro, Miguel Riquelme, José Ignacio Peralta, José Rosas, Diego Sinhué Rodríguez, Silvano Aureoles, Francisco Javier García and Martín Orozco was noteworthy.
It is true, in political times, separatists will take the opportunity to make noise but, speaking of the federal government, let’s say that they will use the divide and conquer tactic to suit their purposes.
Additionally, many of the governors who disassociated themselves from the Conago will end their terms soon and it remains to be seen how much a parallel group will help their parties’ candidates.
Sánchez Cordero was emphatic yesterday. For the government, the Conago will remain as the coordination channel and Claudia Sheinbaum, on behalf of the Morena governors, also endorsed her support. Given the predicament, the topic of a new fiscal pact could not be absent. For now, the finance secretaries of the Conago will meet digitally with the SHCP officials on Tuesday in order to discuss certain adjustments to the fiscal coordination and a face-to-face meeting will be held on Thursday between the governors and Herrera. Those in the know do not predict abundant results, particularly given the scarcity of resources in the SHCP. Additionally, crystallizing a solid agreement would require reaching a consensus in pre-electoral times, which seems complicated.
For now, after its split, the Conago is preparing to modify its statutes starting on September 21 and finishing in October.
Hard times.
Children are the cause of the amparo suit of FEMSA vs NOM 052
It was recently revealed that Femsa, headed by José Antonio Fernández, filed an amparo suit against NOM 052 on labeling that will come into force in October. The text that warns about the risk posed for children by the consumption of soft drinks is one of the foundations of the recourse filed by the most important Coca Cola bottler.
The PTU of 10% is endorsed and the CCE is questioned
And numerous companies are questioning the representativity of the bodies of the CCE [Business Coordinating Council], headed by Carlos Salazar, excessively cautious before the authorities. Anger caused by the decision approved on Wednesday by the Sixth National Commission on Employee Participation in Company Profits. In spite of the crisis, keeping the workers’ PTU [Profit Sharing] at 10% was ratified. While the problems faced by the employee are understood, it is believed that this decision will affect SMEs, which are already subject to an income tax burden of 35%. Expert in labor matters Oscar de la Vega believes that the percentage should have been adjusted. Obviously, the STPS [Department of Labor and Social Welfare] headed by Luisa María Alcalde applied all possible pressure, although the good intentions will probably not crystallize in reality, as many companies will probably end up in red numbers.
ANTAD sales have an actual fall of 11% in January-August
Consumption just can’t seem to catch its stride. In August, the sales of the ANTAD [National Association of Self-Service and Departmental Stores], presided by Vicente Yánez, fell 3.0% in same store sales, driven by department and specialized stores. In terms of January-August invoicing of the 62,000 stores grouped therein, the actual fall is 11%.
Napo distributes free tickets for the airplane [raffle]
And, starting this week, tickets for the presidential airplane raffle have been handed out at the National Union of Mine Workers, headed by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia. The interesting thing is that these tickets are free.
