The federal government has, once again, come to the aid of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
By presidential decree, 100% of a series of taxes have been waived for the oil company for four months.
Among the exempt taxes is the payment of the Shared Utility Right (DUC), the main tax charge that the company must cover, and the payment of the Hydrocarbon Extraction Right.
Although the company has not yet announced how much this tax forgiveness amounts to, some agencies and analysts have estimated it at more than 100,000 million pesos, about 5,800 million dollars.
Despite constant support, the oil company remains the most indebted in the world, with 105,836 million dollars.
The fiscal measure of the Ministry of Finance in favor of Pemex is just a breath of fresh air to address its most urgent problems: the maturity of short-term debt, which amounts to more than 11,000 million dollars and the indebtedness to suppliers, cipher by the oil company's own figures at the end of the third quarter of 2023 at more than 297,000 million pesos, about 17,000 million dollars.
The complicated financial situation of the parastatal has not gone unnoticed by the rating agencies; last weekend Moody's lowered Pemex's evaluation from B3 to B1 due to refining losses and insufficient production.
In the latest financial report of Pemex, the Director of Finance, Carlos Cortez, explained that not all the amount that is recorded is a demandable amount and much less that it is expired.
“In coordination with the Ministry of Finance we are resolving, sometimes sooner, sometimes with a delay, but we are resolving.
We will continue to disperse regular flows for payment to our suppliers and contractors,” the manager promised.
The joint measures with the Treasury to which Cortez referred have not been small.
From 2019 to 2023, the Government has directly injected Pemex more than 806,000 million pesos (47,000 million dollars).
The millionaire state disbursement has been allocated for debt repayment, as well as to support the refining plan of this six-year period, which includes the rehabilitation program of the six refineries, part of the purchase of the Deer Park refinery, in Texas. and the construction of the Dos Bocas complex, in Tabasco.
In addition to capital contributions, during this Government, unprecedented fiscal support has been given, valued at more than 595,000 million pesos, equivalent to about 35,000 million dollars.
Pemex's fiscal support has gone through a continuous reduction of the DUC, which began this Administration with a rate of 65% and for this year is at 30%.
Fluvio Ruiz, an expert on oil issues and former advisor to the parastatal, recognizes that this is only a temporary relief regarding Pemex's serious financial problems, an “emergency measure.”
The only way to clean up Pemex's finances, adds Ruiz, is through a tax reform in favor of the parastatal: "I am convinced that at this time Pemex would benefit more from a modification of the Hydrocarbon Revenue Law that will adjust its limits." of deduction,” he says.
Ruiz clarifies that despite the constant direct capitalizations to the oil company and tax aid, Pemex continues to be the main source of income for this Government.
“The State stripped Pemex of its operating flow for years and that is why it had to go into debt.
Major surgery is needed from the fiscal side, a review of the institutional design so that Pemex emerges stronger from the corporate structure and, of course, from the business plan,” he concludes.
Subscribe here
to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in this country