For the first time in three years of government, the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto spoke about the increased poverty rates in the country, saying he recognized that the social policy "has not been sufficient” to cope this problem.
The statements come after government social development agency Coneval released a report last week saying that 2 million more Mexicans fell into poverty between 2012 and 2014, figures that span the first two years of Pena Nieto’s six-year term.
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Peña said his government now has to focus and make a greater effort to reduce poverty levels. He added that is necessary to focus on “something fundamental” to improve the quality of life. “This will depend on the implementation of each of the 12 structural reforms that have been adopted in this administration,” he added.
Coneval showed a 0.3 point drop in the rate of extreme poverty to 9.5 percent. The agency defines poverty as living on no more than US$157.70 a month in cities and almost the half of this in rural areas.
Over 60 million people (one in two) do not make enough money to buy the basic necessities, with 12 million of those living in extreme poverty.
That, despite the fact Mexico is the second biggest economy in Latin America and 11th biggest in the world. Yet, after Brazil, it has Latin America’s worst poverty rates.
A year ago, Peña Nieto was lauded as a reformer from certain factions, after he passed a series of neoliberal structural reforms during his first 20 months of government. But the reforms have not yielded tangible social or economic improvements for much of the population.
Six of these reforms were purportedly to increase productivity and growth, however, the country has had to slash its budget and reduce its growth outlook.
The president is also facing widespread social unrest. The enforced disappearences of the 43 Ayotzinapa students, accusations of government corruption, as well as high levels of insecurity and decreasing social freedoms in the country have all contributed to large public displays of unhappiness with the government.