Gas and diesel hikes continue
Consumers can expect gasoline and diesel fuel hikes every month through the end of 2015, according to Mexican Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell.
The monthly price rises will be continue to be nine centavos for Magna and 11 centavos for Premium and diesel through the end of this year. They will drop in 2015 when the price rise will be tied to annual inflation. Beginning in 2017, Pemex will allow gas stations to sell under different brands, with competition mainly in service, prices and ancillary products. As of 2020 the market for importation of gasoline and commercialization of products will be wide open, allowing for different qualities of fuel and a variety of prices.
Mexico’s growth forecast drops
Gross domestic product should grow in a range of 2.3 to 3.3 percent in 2014, according to a reassessment by the Banco de Mexico (Banxico) board of governors, Banxico chief Agustin Carstens said this week. The bank had predicted 3 to 4 percent growth for the year in January, but a reduction in demand by the United States during the first quarter, mostly due to extreme weather conditions resulted in an industrial downturn in Mexico. Carstens also said estimates for employment generation for 2014 have dropped from 670,000 to 570,000. Carstens said the worst of the decline is past and that Banxico expects to see vigorous economic growth of around five percent by 2016. That figure was echoed by Mexico’s Treasury Secretary Luis Videgaray, who said the structural reforms put in place in 2013 will allow the economy to increase growth in the next few years.
Refrendo fines take a bite
The cost of the fine imposed on those motorists who have not yet paid their refrendo tax will be more than the cost of the actual reregistration card. Some 320,000 Jalisco motorists have yet to pay the tax and will have to pay a 673-peso fine. The refrendo is 445 pesos. For those who continue to procrastinate, the fine can reach a staggering 6,729 pesos at its maximum.
Tequila Museum to open in Vallarta
Mundo Cuervo is creating a tequila museum inside Puerto Vallarta’s landmark theater, Jalisco Tourism Secretary Enrique Ramos Flores has announced. The display will also feature typical crafts produced in the state, he said. It is hoped cruise line passengers will be brought in their hundreds to the museum, which will offer free tequila tastings.
Huge leap in missing persons
Reports of missing persons in Jalisco increased by 802 percent between 2010 and 2013. The State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) received 74 denuncias (complaints) in 2010, 299 in 2011, 307 in 2012 and 594 last year. The first six months of 2014 have seen 278 reports filed.