The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador should provide more information on the purchase of the Iberdrola plants to assess its impact on public finances, experts on the subject indicated.
This week, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) gave more details about the purchase of the Iberdrola plants by the government. Rogelio Ramírez de la O explained that the operation amounts to 5,943 million dollars, equivalent to 111,500 million pesos, approximately.
Of these, 45,000 million pesos, which represent around 40%, will be obtained through a contribution of venture capital from the government, while 66,500 million pesos will be sought through bank and market financing.
“The operation (of the capital) is financed by Fonadin, it is a contribution to the capital of 45,000 million pesos (51% of this amount will be contributed by Fonadin and 49% will come from institutional investors). This is a contribution that the Treasury makes to Fonadin to give it the ability to finance the purchase,” the Treasury Secretary clarified.
Oscar Ocampo, coordinator of Energy and Environment of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, pointed out that, even between the presentation of the process and the words of the secretary, there were a series of contradictions, since the numbers shown and what Ramírez de la O said did not add up. .
“The secretary spoke of a capital contribution of 45,000 million pesos when the sheet that he himself showed said that of that universe, 51% was going to come from the Treasury, just over 22,500 million pesos, which is not trivial. If we pay attention to the sheet, which seems to be the official information, it is around 1,000 million dollars, an amount similar to what Fonadin gave to Deer Park, for example, ”he added.
In this sense, Alejandra Macías, general director of the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP), indicated that, at the end of last year, Fonadin had resources of around 56,000 million pesos, so it could face the purchase of the plants, assuming you have no other expenses to make.
The experts indicated that they hope there will be more information in the following days, since certain aspects are not clear, such as who will manage the fund, how it will be constituted and how the relationship of the plants with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will be. .
“The announcement, which was made since Easter, has generated many doubts and they do not respond, which is the most worrying thing. The fact of saying that it is going to be financed through Fonadin does not make it clear to us where the money is going to come from”, asserted Alejandra Macías.
Lack of impact study
The general director of the CIEP indicated that, like many other government actions, the purchase of Iberdrola’s plants lacks an impact study, that is, its implications are not only for public finances, but also for the country as a whole. general.
He added that, for example, if there is a debt on the part of Fonadin, it will not be seen in the government balance sheets but it will be reflected in the Historical Balance of the Public Sector Financial Requirements.
