At the III Quarter, expenses of autonomous branches fell 8.7%; INE, the most affected

The spending of the autonomous branches presented in the first nine months of the year its largest decrease for a similar period for 15 years, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).

From January to September of this year, the spending of these autonomous bodies –such as the INE, the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, Cofece, among others– was 89,266 million pesos, which represented a drop of 8.7% compared to with the same period last year.

Said drop is the largest reported for the autonomous branches since 2007, when these institutions showed a 9.7% reduction in spending in the third quarter.

The breakdown of information from the Ministry of Finance showed that, within the autonomous branches, the expense that was most affected was that of the INE, an organization that in recent weeks has been targeted by the electoral reform that the federal government sent to the Legislature, and which has raised strong criticism.

Between January and September of this year, the institute in charge of Lorenzo Córdova, had an expense of 13,652 million pesos, which represented a 41.2% drop compared to the same period in 2021.

In the annexes to the Public Finance and Public Debt Report, the Treasury explained that the decrease in the budget was due to lower spending for the national electoral organization, as well as for training and education for the democratic exercise of citizenship.

Likewise, fewer resources were allocated to grant prerogatives to political parties, control of their resources and administration of State time on radio and television.

INE restrictions have increased

According to the organization México Evalúa, the INE’s budget marginalization in this six-year term has increased in a worrying way, and it has been observed during the discussions of the latest Economic Packages, where the institute ends up with a lower budget than what it requested.

He recalled that during the six-year term of Peña Nieto, the INE was approved in the Federation Expenditure Budget (PEF), on average, 1.7% fewer resources than those requested (519 million pesos); However, during the current six-year term, 8.7% of the resources (2,100 million pesos) have been “denied” and, after the approval of the PEF 2023 in general and in particular, with the proposed reductions in commissions, the cut will average 10.6% ( 2,600 million pesos).

“In other words, the usual budgetary restrictions against the electoral body have quadrupled in this administration,” said México Evalúa.

However, the story is different for the administrative branches, which are directly dependent on the Executive branch, which have been approved for more resources than originally proposed, the organization said.

“On top of this, throughout the year they receive budget increases. In the current six-year term, these increases have been, on average, 21%, compared to what was approved each year, or 296,000 million pesos, enough to fund the INE 10 times. Yes, there is money, but not for the autonomous entities and not for the INE”.

Double-digit increase for the IFT

In contrast to the INE, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) showed a considerable double-digit increase in its spending in the third quarter of the year.

In the first nine months, this institute spent 1,325 million pesos, which represented a growth of 43.7% compared to the same period of the year.

The Treasury reported that this increase was due to higher spending for administrative support activities, as well as institutional strengthening and innovation for the development of the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) spent 6,109 million pesos in the period, 19.2% more than a year ago due to the greater resources that were assigned to the agricultural census, as well as greater spending for production and dissemination of the information it generates.

Other branches that showed double-digit growth in spending were the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, with spending of 10,460 million pesos and an increase of 13.7%, as well as the National Human Rights Commission, with 1,067 million pesos, 10.9% more than a year ago.

ana.martinez@eleconomista.mx