Mexico’s third infrastructure package to be revealed shortly, says business leader

The third package of projects under Mexico’s 2020-24 national infrastructure program (PNI) could be presented after governorship elections in six states on June 5, according to the head of the country’s most important business chamber, CCE. 

Francisco Cervantes told news outlet MVS that the third package is “robust” and seeks to counter inflation pressures. 

Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Durango, Aguascalientes, Hidalgo and Tamaulipas will hold elections on Sunday for governor and an “electoral quiet period” will begin Thursday to prevent any state or federal announcements that could benefit a specific candidate or party. 

The third package has been expected since early 2021 but feuds between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the former head of CCE, Carlos Salazar, delayed its release last year. 

Cervantes, who has the support of AMLO and has vowed to restore relations between the government and the private sector, was named CCE president on March 2.

In March, Salazar told daily Milenio that the final package of projects was ready, but that it has not been presented because the country was in a quiet time due to the April 10 recall vote on AMLO’s presidency.

Although the content of the third package has not been made public, Rogelio Mauricio Rivero, the head of the infrastructure, communications and transport ministry’s highway development unit, said last July that the package could include up to 15 communications and transportation projects involving 70bn pesos (US$3.55bn).

The first two packages, involving projects requiring over 50% private sector investment, were presented in October and December 2020. Package one included 39 projects and the second 29, with combined investment of 526bn pesos.