Inegi will measure poverty: double challenge

Inegi will assume Coneval's role in measuring poverty in Mexico.

The statistical agency, headed by Graciela Márquez Colín, will face a double challenge.

1.- Credibility must be earned in the task of critically evaluating the government's public policies to combat poverty.

2.- It will have to do so in the swampy terrain of budgetary insufficiency.

With the transfer of powers from Coneval to Inegi, Claudia Sheinbaum's administration marks a milestone in national history.

Unfortunately, this is a decisive event whose fate is difficult to predict, although it is clear that the short but substantial history of Coneval will remain as a valuable lost heritage, or at best diminished.

The approval by the Chambers of Deputies and Senators of the dissolution and transfer of powers from Coneval to Inegi marks a turning point in the independent evolution of poverty measurement.

The legislative process finally placed the final nail in the coffin of an autonomous public body of the Mexican government.

In just over two decades, Coneval has developed and implemented a pioneering methodology for measuring multidimensional poverty, with international recognition from organizations such as the World Bank and ECLAC.

Coneval, using statistical information from INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography), specifically the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH), offered Mexican society the opportunity to measure poverty from a multidimensional perspective, combining income with social deficiencies in education, health, social security, housing, basic services, and food.

Coneval has evaluated more than 150 social programs throughout its existence, including Prospera, Seguro Popular, Oportunidades, and Pension for Older Adults, among others.

With a technical and critical perspective, he evaluated and identified strengths and weaknesses in the execution of government programs and contributed to their improvement.

Coneval became a benchmark in Latin America and inspired the governments of other countries.

What Coneval achieved, it did with minimal budgets.

It always operated with meager annual budgets.

In the last five years of its existence, Coneval suffered several budget cuts that diminished its operational capabilities.

Now, Coneval will be part of another constitutionally autonomous, but completely different, organization.

Inegi is a technical, not a political, institution focused on generating objective and reliable information.

Until now, its powers did not include evaluating public policies, as they will now be available upon its absorption into the structure of the statistical agency.

INEGI, which will soon take over Coneval's powers, has been experiencing its own budget shortfalls.

In fact, despite the decision to transfer Coneval's powers to Inegi last year, the necessary provisions were not made to increase the statistical agency's budget.

For 2025, Inegi has a budget of 12.245 billion pesos, 5 billion pesos less than the budget it requested.

Since 2019, INEGI has suffered budget cuts that have limited its ability to carry out key projects.

It has had to cancel key projects such as the Intercensal Survey and the Agricultural Census, among several others.

Now, in the eyes of the public, Inegi must overcome the curve of distrust and strive to demonstrate transparency and objectivity in measuring poverty.

And when faced with the government, he will have to avoid potential attempts at political manipulation.

And it will have to register and even collaborate with the efforts of civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations seeking to relieve Coneval of some or all of its tasks. In time.

Glimpses

*** AT&T Mexico reported strong results at the close of the first half of 2025. The company, led by Mónica Aspe, reports 235,000 net additions, for a total of 23.8 million customers; EBITDA of $201 million, up 28.9% in local currency and 13% in dollars; revenue of $1.054 billion, up 9.2% in local currency and down 4.4% in dollars, compared to 2024.

*** Actinver, headed by Luis Hernández, reported a net profit of 416 million pesos, representing a 51% growth compared to the same period in 2024. In addition, it reached a new historical maximum in its profitability (ROE) of 18% and a solid expansion in its assets in investment funds, which now total 307,000 million pesos, with an annual increase of 31%.