"The overwhelming victory of AMLO will help improve your changes"

Interview: Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC

The overwhelming federal and legislative victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) at the polls will better address the changes that she poses, in a responsible manner, says the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena.

"It is clear that there are important options to be proposed, especially in order to align the executive's policy with that of the legislature, which is still part of what I would call the political economy. "he says.

Interviewed by El Economista, 24 hours after meeting Alfonso Romo, who will be the coordinator of the Office of the Presidency, dismissed feeling worried about this important political capital of AMLO, and ensures that "the winning candidate has been very responsible and will not propose major breaks or big changes ".

Rejecting the intention The success of the electoral candidate in integrating representatives of international organizations into the cabinet is an attempt to generate certainty.

"What helps the most to generate certainty is what he said: do not impose anything, seek persuasion and accept. He spoke of concord and how to reach common positions, and I think it is very important for Mexico, because it makes it more resistant to what is happening in the international context. "

" I think that there is the key to such aspects as work, innovation, technology, there is a lot to do in collaboration with the private sector. And I think he's been giving signs of how he's composing his team, with very well-prepared and very well-trained people. "

Effective and Alternative Expenditures and Recoveries

-With this broad political capital that AMLO will have, could we wait for a second round of structural reforms?

Not necessarily. From ECLAC we have spoken It is clear that the region as a whole needs to align its tax system with other contexts such as what is happening in the OECD, but these are options for the future. In other words, there are times and times to raise them.The current government has proposed tax reform, which has paid off, started in 2013, and in 2017, the increase in Tax revenue has been fully implemented.In fact, the winning candidate has taken the option of not raising taxes, and I'm sure he will comply.Then this instrument is not available but others can be explored

– Efficiency in d public spending

C & # 39;? is an alternative. The same as making tax collection more effective in controlling tax evasion, and for this it does not require reform, but to exercise as a fiscal authority greater discipline in the collection. And a third instrument: if the country grows as expected, and indeed the business world pledges to increase investment and levels of foreign direct investment are maintained, that is, say, there are viable growth drivers.

The winning candidate proposes to generate savings from public spending to use these resources in social projects. The efficiency of spending will prioritize capital expenditures, more than current expenses, to invest more and promote savings. This has already been done in Mexico City

Industrial Policy, Mexico's new place in the world

– Has the candidate received advice from ECLAC to develop their Pejenomics?

We did not participate, but I must say that we are very interested in the way Cepal collaborates. We are a sort of regional observatory of economic, social and environmental policies and we can bring to the table of this team the best experiences, the best lessons from our point of view, which is development. If you tell us that you want us to help you with the best practices in industrial policy,

-You have been talking for years about the importance of developing an industrial policy in Mexico as an engine of growth, would this the right time?

An explicit industrial policy can define how you want to achieve a more balanced, and more equitable territorial development between the north and the south. This is a very important bet that happens to have a vision of integration. And if they develop a strategic vision of integration between Central America and Mexico, they could promote and generate more growth in both regions, as well as more generating jobs. roots.