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Mexican Nationals Continue to Fill Up Gas Tanks in U.S.

7 years 2 months 1 week ago Monday, January 16 2017 Jan 16, 2017 January 16, 2017 10:24 PM January 16, 2017 in News

HIDALGO - More Mexican citizens are crossing the border to fill up their tanks at gas stations in the Rio Grande Valley.

Many motorists said they’re willing to wait over an hour to save from the recent spike of gasoline prices in Mexico.

Mexico used to fix gas prices and give drivers a discount. After New Year’s Day, the government decided to end the discount in order to save money.

UTRGV professor of economics Salvador Contreras explained the government is spending those savings in debt.

The increase in Mexico is as much as 20 percent

Contreras said Mexico has faced debt since the recession in 2009. He said bills have increased causing the government to spend more than what comes in. In addition, oil production, one of Mexico’s big sources of money, has also dropped.

“What Mexico’s trying to do here, it’s trying to reduce so that it doesn’t have to borrow as much money to be able to finance its operations,” he said.

The minimum daily wage in Mexico equals about $4 a day. Despite this, Mexicans are still willing to pay more than $2 per gallon on the U.S. side.

 “About one gallon is roughly 80 pesos. A little bit less than 80 pesos. The minimum wage in Mexico is 80 pesos. So this is a huge burden on the average poor Mexican,” the professor said.

A Mexican citizen said he had trouble believing the Mexican government will pay its debt.

“They’re not going to pay anything. They’re going to keep the money. That’s how it is,” he said. “I get my gas here. It’s cheap. At the very least, I’m not getting robbed.”

Contreras said the Mexican peso devaluation also affects the country’s debt.

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