Happy July, Mexico!
As of Friday the prices of gasoline will go up to fill up the ever empty coffers of the Mexican government, which will increase the price of Magna (green) by 24 centavos, up to 13.40 pesos, and Premium (red) by 34 centavos, up to 14.37 pesos per liter.
This increase surely has all Mexicans with acute gastritis, as they see the prices of fuel in the U.S. on their way down and President Enrique Peña Nieto restoring the monthly price increase that had been suspended since last January.
The Finance and Public Credit Secretariat (SHCP) economists, however, are being extremely careful in their now hopeless efforts to keep inflation down — the pride of the administration — and refrained from hiking the price of diesel, which will remain the same at 13.77 pesos per liter. No doubt, the lobby of the logistics industry is strong and howled before the tax needy government pumped it up and yes, unlike gasoline, diesel is inflationary, as it affects the price of merchandise transport. Hence Peña Nieto may continue to tell Mexicans that the economy is fine and that inflation is abated even if the price of gasoline has skyrocketed.
In finding reasons to justify the by now unjustifiable gas price increase the Finance and Public Credit Secretary says the price is going up because the price of crude also went up after being in a slump for a year and because of the seasonal summer increases the international gasoline prices see.
Higher priced crude, more expensive gas? One wonders where the SHCP economists live. Their Orwellian doublespeak has no place after 1984 but here it is, once again, in 2016.
Even worse, in the back of the minds of all Mexicans are the by now overridden promise President Enrique Peña Nieto made to the people of Mexico when pushing for his now absolutely failed Energy Reform that the prices of gasoline would go down and there would be cheap fuel for all Mexican drivers.
Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas in July.