Worst Crisis in 100 Years / Healthy Public Finances

COVID-19 global crisis is the deepest in a century. President López Obrador said the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 health contingency is the deepest in a century; however, Mexico will come out of this “nightmare” faster than other countries. “The deepest world crisis that has occurred in the last 100 years, in a century. Europe hasn’t seen this economic decline since World War II. The United States hasn’t seen a contraction like since the [Great Depression] and we have not fallen as far we are now since 1932,” he stated. The president noted that the recovery in Mexico will be faster than in other countries. “The important thing is that we are going to get out of it quickly, it won’t be an extended crisis. The nightmare of the pandemic is going away,” he said.  

Healthy public finances to face both crises. Mexico has healthy public finances and is facing both crises in the best way, President López Obrador said. “We have healthy public finances, there is nothing to fear. We have strong fundamentals, there will be no further workers dismissals, wages will not be reduced, there will be no shortage of basic food, there will be no inflation,” he said. The president noted that instead of being reduced, funds allocated to poor people within the government's welfare programs will be increased. He also highlighted good results regarding the sanitary crisis because lives are being saved and there is capacity to care for all people. Tomorrow, President López Obrador will give his second State of the Union.

Calls to end “maneuvers” in the House. Given the increasing dispute between the Labor Party (PT) and former ruling party PRI over the presidency of the House of Representatives, President López Obrador called on the people involved to respect the law and avoid the “maneuvers” that were normal before. “We must respect legality and do not do the same as before, no maneuvering for positions,” he said after a handful of representatives switched to PT over the weekend.

90,000 new jobs in August. Over 90,000 jobs were created in August as a part of the recovery effort to face the COVID-19 crisis, President López Obrador said. “We have already recovered 90,000, I hope we can reach 100,000, out of a million jobs lost,” he said and noted that his administration made the right call when deciding on the recovery strategy. “I believe it was right to open productive activities in some branches of the economy from June 1, such as the automotive, auto parts, construction and mining industries,” he said.

“Official banditry” still going on. President López Obrador said that his government has not been able to put an end to the “official banditry” that prevailed in past administrations and that he still has work to do cleaning up corruption in the country. He noted this will be the first topic he will address in tomorrow’s State of the Union from the National Palace. “The first paragraph of tomorrow’s message is about corruption. Of course, there is no corruption above, I can guarantee you that, but we have not been able to put an end to the official banditry,” he said. The president said he is setting an example for states and municipalities. “As for us, I am sure that it will be completely eradicated but we want to set an example that reaches all states and municipalities,” he said.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish