Sheinbaum Renews Six-Month Price Cap of 24 Pesos on Regular Gasoline
Sheinbaum renews the gasoline and diesel price cap for six months; the agreement with fuel retailers keeps prices below 24 and 27 pesos per liter through IEPS tax incentives.
President Claudia Sheinbaum formally renewed on August 31 the six-month voluntary agreement with fuel retail entrepreneurs that keeps regular gasoline below 24 pesos per liter and diesel below 27 pesos.
The mechanism combines fiscal incentives tied to the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) with adjustments to the margins of distributors and importers, the Ministry of Energy (SENER) reported. The agreement has been renewed for at least one year on the same six-month basis and aims to have more stations sell regular gasoline at no more than 24 pesos per liter, according to El Financiero. The diesel pact, by contrast, was established at the end of April as a verbal commitment, with a suggested maximum price of 27 pesos per liter and 25.39 pesos in border zones, Expansión reported. In a joint statement, SENER and the Ministry of Finance linked the agreement to containing inflationary pressures in the face of volatility in international oil prices.
The Ministry of Finance calculated the price of regular gasoline without fiscal incentives at 27.20 pesos per liter, 13.3 percent above the 24-peso reference, and diesel at 30.07 pesos, 11.4 percent above the 27-peso cap. With current incentives in place, average prices stand at 25.61 and 27.36 pesos per liter respectively, and fuel retailers must trim their margins by 1.61 and 0.36 pesos per liter to comply with the caps. The fiscal cost is reflected in IEPS revenue from gasoline and diesel, which totaled 246,871 million pesos between January and July, down 2.1 percent year-on-year in real terms. Energy economist Mauricio González Puente, a representative of the fuel retail sector, explained to El Financiero that the government can even temporarily eliminate the IEPS in the event of substantial increases in international prices, a sacrifice for public finances.
The next milestone will be the eventual elimination of cash payments at service stations, which Sheinbaum proposed to the sector during the meeting, as well as the trajectory of IEPS revenue collection while international price volatility persists.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.