Mexico & Nafta - 13 January 2004
The government's response
Although the government was annoyed by congress's decision to throw out the original budget and pass a more modest one, it said that it will try to make the budget work. President Fox called on his three administrative teams - public policy, headed by Eduardo Sojo, Ramón Muñoz's government innovation team, and Alfonos Durazo's publicity team - to implement the budget while simultaneously demonstrating to congress and the country the need for structural reforms.
The government claims that some of congress's calculations appear to be flawed. It maintains that some of the savings are not possible, so the reordering of spending priorities will be more difficult than congress believes. In particular, the finance ministry believes that there may be problems in finding the extra money congress has earmarked for agricultural support.
The government claims that some of congress's calculations appear to be flawed. It maintains that some of the savings are not possible, so the reordering of spending priorities will be more difficult than congress believes. In particular, the finance ministry believes that there may be problems in finding the extra money congress has earmarked for agricultural support.