Physical investment recorded its highest growth in eight years; spending increased 14.8% annually

Physical investment recorded its largest increase not only so far in the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but also the largest seen in eight years, according to the latest updated data from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP). .

From January to August of this year, 531,626 million pesos were allocated to the physical investment category, which represented an increase of 14.8% compared to the same period in 2021.

The foregoing, in addition to being the largest increase observed so far in the current administration, is the largest growth rate since 2014, when physical investment increased 26% and managed to reach a record level of 775,689 million pesos.

In this way, physical investment, which is considered one of the engines of economic growth and development, managed to exceed spending levels that were seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic; however, the resources that are allocated to this item are less than 765,434 million pesos that the government had to disburse for pensions.

According to what is projected by the Ministry of Finance, it is expected that at the end of this year physical investment will represent 3.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest level recorded since 2017.

Although physical investment has increased, a large part of the resources allocated to this item are allocated to the flagship projects of the López Obrador government, such as the Mayan Train, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, among others, which has generated criticism. as there is no certainty that these projects are promoting the recovery of the economy, especially after the crisis.

Supply, drinking water and sewage, with more resources

In the breakdown of the data, it was observed that the greatest increase in resources occurred in the infrastructure dedicated to supply, drinking water and sewerage.

In the first eight months of the year, this item had resources of 11,987 million pesos, which represented a growth of 69.7% compared to the same period last year.

Another item that had a considerable increase was health. For this item, from January to August of this year the government allocated 5,811 million pesos, which represented an annual increase of 26 percent.

In the case of the energy sector, which is the one that concentrates the greatest resources, the increase in the period was more modest. In the first eight months of this year, spending for this item was 222,763 million pesos, which represented an annual increase of 3.7 percent.

In contrast, the story for education infrastructure was another. In the period, resources totaled 734 million pesos, which represented an annual drop of 14.2%.

ana.martinez@eleconomista.mx