• QUAGMIRE: Mexico’s new autonomous Attorney General (FGR) along with other regulatory and autonomous agencies -including the National Elections Institute (INE)- were the biggest losers in the 2020 budget passed by the Mexican Congress in the early hours of Friday.
• CUTS: In contrast to other priorities by the López Obrador Administration, the FGR will see an 8.2% slash from the original 2020 budget request along with a 6.0% reduction for the INE and other cuts to regulatory agencies like a 10.9% decrease for the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).
• MAIN ARGUMENT: “Those autonomous agencies that requested a budget above inflation are being adjusted. We made a very careful review of the additional resources requested above inflation and we made a partial adjustment”, said Mario Delgado, who leads Morena in the seat.
• ADVISORY: “Concerns have arisen about the sustainability of drastic budget cuts and their potential impact on human capital and the role of some regulatory agencies and autonomous institutions”, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in its latest report on Mexico this November.
