AMLO highlights Infonavit’s strength; sectors ask for more housing for low-income people


For President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the amount of reserves available to the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit) is a reference of the economic behavior of the country; however, for the sectors of this organization, said solvency must translate into greater attention to low-income people.

Within his participation in the 125th Infonavit General Assembly, the president assured that in general the country registers healthy finances, as a reflection of this is the country’s low level of indebtedness.

“Infonavit is fine, because they have reserves, they have funds, even in difficult circumstances after the pandemic and now that we are facing the effects of the war in Russia and Ukraine,” said López Obrador.

According to the report presented by the Institute to the president, so far this administration, the agency’s reserves have increased 25 percent.

In this sense, the president also referred to the reserves of the Bank of Mexico as a reflection of the good economic behavior. “It is worth thinking about the reserves of the Bank of Mexico that (together with Infonavit) are institutions that allow us to see how we are doing, how our country’s economy is developing,” said López Obrador.

Thus, the growth of Banxico’s reserves, of 16% according to the data from the presidency, together with other indicators such as the increase in the country’s minimum wage, reflect the resistance of the Mexican economy in the global economic context, according to the president .

“Now with the lack of control of the world economy, the increase in inflation is something that we have to face, which is a challenge, a challenge, it is the tax that most affects humble people, poor people,” said Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.

They ask to serve the lowest income

For the representatives before Infonavit of the labor and business sector, the challenge in what corresponds to the sector living place it is to deliver more credits and direct them to lower-income workers.

Mario Macías, representative of the labor representation before Infonavit, assured that, with the new products of the organization, derived from the reform approved in 2020, it is necessary to address the challenges, focused on the financing that must be delivered.

“The workers’ sector has set itself three major objectives. The first is to increase in an orderly and responsible manner the number of credits for living placeto serve entitled workers of all salary levels, but particularly those who earn the least,” said Mario Macías, head of the Sectoral Directorate of Workers at Infonavit.

“The second objective is to ensure the comprehensive quality, affordability and safety of households that will be inhabited by the working families of Mexico, financed by the Institute”.

Thus, the third objective will be that the households that receive a credit from Infonavit have at least 50 square meters of minimum surface, as a standard of living place adequate, so as not to constitute only “four walls of 38 square meters”.

However, said Macías Robles, it is necessary to recognize that the delivery of loans has been reduced in the last six years, but above all the offer of living place affordability has been reduced, so efforts must be increased to serve lower-income families.

Finally, the labor representative warned that compliance with the constitutional right to have resources to form the fund of the living placeto form an estate or as part of retirement savings.

For his part, José Medina Mora, head of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) and representative of the business sector, noted that the more than 1 million companies he represents and contribute 5% of the workers’ salary, should feel proud for the more than 12 million credits granted in 50 years through tripartism.

But, he recalled, that there is a challenge to strengthen and expand Infonavit’s social function, especially in the current economic context. “We have to expand the credits, where there are living place of quality, harmonious urban environment and mobility conditions”, he pointed out.

He acknowledged the concern about the past due portfolio of the Institute, of almost 17%, which he said represents the proportion of workers who are at risk of not consolidating their assets.

They correct course

For the federal government, at the start of the administration there were three main challenges to address: the housing backlog in the center and south of the country, creating mechanisms to address the urgency of improvements, and houses abandoned due to lack of urban services.

The most challenging element in outlining the national policy of living place of this government is to solve the issue of the fragmentation of urban centers, in which housing is not connected to an environment of access to services, commented Román Meyer, secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development.

“That has led us to have 650,000 households abandoned today at the national level, most of them in the northern states of the country, that if we put it together, it is practically the metropolitan area of ​​the state of Puebla,” Meyer Falcón estimated.

Thus, for Sedatu it is through the self-production of living place that the main housing challenges can be solved, either through schemes delivered through Infonavit or directly to the population.

“We have delivered more than two million credits and direct support to families at better rates and mechanisms,” said the head of Sedatu.

Regarding the abandonment of houses, President López Obrador called for a commitment to do “things right”, with large units, not “little eggs”, on the outskirts of the city without services and connectivity.

“That this does not happen again, that they do households, departments of good quality and with public services”, urged the president accompanied by Claudia Sheinbaum, head of government of Mexico City; Olga Sánchez Cordero, president of the Senate; Luisa María Alcalde, head of the Ministry of Labor, as well as representatives of the business sector such as Francisco Cervantes, president of the Business Coordinating Council, and Gonzalo Méndez, former national president of Canadevi.


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