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Mexico plans more taxes, cuts in bureaucracy
Tue Sep 8, 2009 10:43pm EDT
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By Noel Randewich
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon asked Congress on Tuesday to raise taxes and slash spending on government bureaucracy to prop up public finances as the country languishes in a deep recession.
In an audacious bid to boost revenues, Calderon proposed a new 2 percent levy on all sales without any exceptions, a measure that could draw fire from lawmakers opposed to taxes on currently-exempt food and medicine.
He also proposed to temporarily increase the maximum income tax to 30 percent from 28 percent at present.
A plunge in oil production and the most severe economic contraction since 1932 have slammed Mexico's government coffers, hurting the country's efforts to improve its shoddy schools, roads and hospitals.
"We cannot close our eyes to these limitations," Finance Minister Agustin Carstens told a news conference on Tuesday after turning the proposal over to lawmakers.
"Mexico is at a crossroads," he said.
Mexico's central bank has warned about raising taxes during hard economic times, but Mexico is also trying to fend off threatened downgrades by major debt rating agencies.
Rating agencies worry about Mexico's paltry tax collection and its dependence on oil, which are used to fund the budget and pay back creditors. A downgrade in the country's debt rating would lead many investors to dump Mexican assets, pushing up interest rates in Mexico and further complicating economic recovery.
Calderon also proposed saving money by eliminating three minor federal ministries and freezing bureaucrats' salaries. Austerity measures and new tax revenues would be worth 180 billion pesos ($13.5 billion) in next year's budget, Calderon said.
The government would also cut the 2010 budget deficit to 60 billion pesos ($4.5 billion), which would be equivalent to around 0.5 percent of Mexico's current gross domestic product. Mexico is seen running a deficit close to 2 percent of GDP this year.
"It's a drastic adjustment," Calderon told reporters.
SOCIAL SPENDING
Calderon promised to direct revenues from new taxes to social spending, pledging a major boost for poverty programs.
"We can't eradicate extreme poverty or guarantee access for all Mexicans to health care and quality education if we do not have solid public finances," he told reporters.
The new tax on sales aims to collect 70 billion pesos ($5 billion) in 2010. Continued...
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