Among the highest priorities of Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is to attack poverty and inequality through an array of social development programs. Lopez Obrador has, for example, promised to increase pensions and other benefits for the elderly, expand scholarships and grants, encourage job-creation initiatives for the young, and provide child care subsidies.
At the same time, the Mexican president has vowed to boost the sluggish economy and strengthen investor confidence. We are delighted Carlos Urzua, Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, will address the economic policy and investment agenda of Mexico’s four-month old government. With a revised projection of GDP growth down from 2.2 percent to 1.6 percent for 2019, a decrease in foreign investment, and inflationary pressures due to higher energy costs, how does the Lopez Obrador government plan to finance ambitious social programs? What is the government’s position on foreign direct investment? How is the government seeking to ease market apprehensions about the new government’s shift on economic policy?
These and other issues will be discussed by Secretary Urzua in an open exchange about Mexico’s economic outlook and the challenges facing the government in coming years. Secretary Urzua has a distinguished academic career and managed the finances of Mexico City from 2000 to 2003 when Lopez Obrador was mayor. In that post, he succeeded in reining in expenses and established a record of fiscal discipline.
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Speaker:
Carlos Urzúa
Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico (@CarlosUrzuaSHCP)
Moderator:
Michael Shifter
President, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)