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•    With the Program to Promote Growth and Employment, the Mexican economy will be stronger and grow more quickly, President declares.

•    These are timely, determined measures by Federal Government to cope with the international economic crisis.

In the Manuel Ávila Camacho Hall of the official Los Pinos residence, the President explained that the aim of this program is to offset the negative effects of the international financial crisis by strengthening the internal engines that promote the growth of the Mexican economy.

He also declared that he will submit a document to Congress modifying economic policy criteria to incorporate new estimates of growth, exchange rate, expected oil prices and inflation for next year as well as modifications to the new Law of Income and the Expenditure Budget Project of the Federation for 2009 to adapt public finances to the new economic situation.

Accompanied by Secretaries of the Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos, and of Finance and Public Credit Agustín Carstens Carstens, President Calderón explained that the Program consists of five specific measures:

Firstly, it will expand and reassign public expenditure, particularly to continue promoting infrastructure projects and to correct a series of structural problems in accounting and public finances and thereby stimulate economic growth.

For example, he said, the aim is to reform the Budget and Fiscal Responsibility Law to correct structural problems at Petróleos Mexicanos, such as the accountancy procedures for the firm's liabilities called Deferred Impact Projects in Expenditure Registraration (Pidiregas) and restrictions on Pemex’s expenditure on investment, derived from its lack of autonomy.

President Calderón said that if Congress approves these modifications, it will have additional resources in the order of $78 billion pesos to offset the decrease in income derived from the economic crisis and would enable Investment in Infrastructure to be expanded to increase the economy's competitiveness and preserve the health of public finances.

This strategy will make it possible to establish an additional Emergency Investment Program for $53 billion pesos for next year, which will be assigned to the construction of energy, highway, railway, education, health, safety, hydro-agricultural and housing infrastructure works as well as sports, cultural and tourist infrastructure.

The second measure attempts to change the rules regarding expenditure on infrastructure by the public sector and prevent partial expenditure to speed up the implementation of investment projects.

A third point is the allocation of $12 billion pesos from the Stabilization Fund for Investment in Pemex, assigned for the construction of a new refinery and infrastructure and thereby reduce dependence on imported oil.

The fourth measure involves launching an extraordinary program to support Small and Medium Firms, as a result of which the Economic Cabinet will implement an integral strategy that will strengthen Banca de Fomento and increase investments for the benefit of PyMES.

The fifth point involves the simplification of paperwork for foreign trade and customs operations, to enable Mexicans to have access to more products and better prices and make it easier to set up business in Mexico.

President Felipe Calderón stated that the sum of these measures will boost the economy, equivalent to 1% of the Gross Domestic Product and that they constitute a timely, determined response by Federal Government to cope with the situation affecting the world's economies.

“As I have said before, the situation of the world economy will obviously have an impact on Mexico, but we will pull through because we have strong public finances and are promoting specific measures and actions that will encourage economic growth in Mexico," he declared.