Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum presented an economic reactivation plan for the capital Wednesday that aims to create 300,000 jobs by the end of 2021.
The plan includes an investment of 40 billion pesos (US $1.8 billion) by the Mexico City and federal governments to provide loans and other financial support to citizens and businesses, and spending 27 billion pesos on educational, health, transportation and other urban infrastructure projects.
Sheinbaum told a virtual press conference that the government expects that private investment in the capital will total 75 billion pesos (US $3.5 billion) during the final months of 2020 and the first months of 2021.
Two projects to be built with private sector resources are a new elevated road that will connect with the Mexico City-Puebla highway and another elevated road that will link the capital to the Santa Lucía airport, which is currently under construction at an air force base in México state.
The Fería de Chapultepec amusement park will also be renovated with private money.
Finance Minister Luz Elena González explained that the reactivation plan consists of 10 different parts.
One is the creation of a temporary employment program that will seek to provide jobs to more than 15,000 people between September 15 and the end of the year.
People employed by the “Improving our city, our home” scheme will remove graffiti and clean up parks and public squares among other duties. They will receive a salary of between 3,500 and 15,000 pesos (US $160-690) per month.
Other aspects of the economic plan include revitalization projects in Mexico City’s historic center, investment in the Vallejo-i industrial zone, the establishment of plants to recycle urban and construction waste and the promotion of “safe tourism.”
Sheinbaum said the goal of the plan is to create 300,000 direct formal sector jobs by the end of next year. She said that 220,000 jobs were lost in the capital due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated economic restrictions.
Mexico City is one of 21 states where the risk of coronavirus infection is orange light “high,” according to the federal government’s stoplight system. The capital has remained at the orange light level for 10 weeks but authorities have gradually eased restrictions during the period and most businesses have now reopened albeit at a reduced capacity.
Mexico City’s confirmed case tally passed 100,000 on Wednesday while its official Covid-19 death toll stands at 10,671.
Source: El Universal (sp), El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp)
