Mexican president decrees tax cuts for U.S. border region

DECEMBER 31, 2018 / 12:01 PM / UPDATED 12 HOURS AGO
3 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s new leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday decreed tax cuts for northern states that he says will help power economic growth and deter migration to the United States.

An executive order in the government’s official gazette granted lower rates for both value-added and income taxes in more than 40 municipalities bordering the United States, an area that has become a flashpoint over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies to deter immigrants, including building a wall.

Lopez Obrador’s tax cuts could reduce government tax income during 2019, when he will implement a budget that seeks to use spending cuts to help fund new social welfare and infrastructure projects.

At an event in Monterrey in the northern state of Nuevo Leon on Saturday, Lopez Obrador said the minimum wage in the northern strip of municipalities would rise to 177 pesos ($9.00), nearly double the national level, starting Jan. 1, and that fuel prices would be set on a par with U.S. prices.

More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-economy-border/mexican-president-decrees-tax-cuts-for-u-s-border-region-idUKKCN1OU0ZJ

Best wishes to the excellent President of Mexico. The people have waited a long time to see him in office.