Mexico Diesel Subsidy Held at 100% as Petrol Discounts Rise
Mexico · Economy
Key Facts
- —What happened The finance ministry kept the Mexico diesel subsidy at 100% for a second week and raised both petrol discounts.
- —How it works The treasury waives part of the IEPS fuel excise each week, in an order published in the official gazette.
- —What drivers pay Magna carries MXN 2.50 (about US$0.15) of excise this week, while diesel carries none at all.
- —The catch Diesel already pays no excise at all, so any further support now has to come from direct budget spending.
- —Who feels it most Hauliers, because diesel powers around 70% of Mexico’s freight transport and its price cap is already being tested.
- —The fiscal bill IMEF, a finance executives’ body, puts forgone fuel excise at MXN 47,300 million (about US$2.75 billion) in January to July.
Mexico’s finance ministry has kept the full diesel discount for another week while raising the tax break on both grades of petrol. The order runs to 25 September 2026.
The Mexico diesel subsidy will stay at its maximum level for another week. The finance ministry has also raised the tax discount on both grades of petrol.
The order covers 19 to 25 September 2026. Hacienda published it on 18 September 2026 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, the government gazette.
What the subsidy actually is
Mexico does not hand motorists a cheque. It waives a tax.
Fuel sold in Mexico carries an excise duty called the IEPS, the Impuesto Especial sobre Producción y Servicios. It is a fixed number of pesos per litre, not a percentage, and it does not follow the oil price.
The duty is built into the pump price, roughly a quarter to a third of it.
Every Friday the ministry, known in Mexico as Hacienda, publishes an order setting the share of the duty it will waive. Each order runs from Saturday.
A 100% stimulus means the fuel carries no excise at all. The waived amount is revenue the federal government never collects.
Peso figures here use 17.23 to the US dollar. That is the rate El Financiero cited from Bloomberg for 18 September 2026.
The numbers for this week
The 2026 excise quota on diesel is MXN 7.3634 a litre, about US$0.43. Hacienda waived all of it.
It then added a second payment on top. That complementary stimulus is worth MXN 1.8361 a litre, about US$0.11.
This top-up comes directly from the budget rather than from forgone tax. A week earlier it stood at only MXN 0.1501, about US$0.01.
Magna is the regular grade of petrol sold at Mexican pumps. Premium is the higher-octane, dearer grade.
Magna’s stimulus rose to 62.70% of a quota of MXN 6.70, about US$0.39. That waives MXN 4.20 (about US$0.24) and leaves drivers paying MXN 2.50, or US$0.15.
Premium’s stimulus rose to 59.12% of a quota of MXN 5.66, about US$0.33. That waives MXN 3.3462 a litre, about US$0.19.
It leaves MXN 2.31 of excise payable on each litre, about US$0.13. Expansión and Yahoo Noticias both give that figure.
Agencia Reforma, carried by Periódico AM, printed MXN 3.34 (about US$0.19) in its payable column. That is the same number it gave for the waiver.
How diesel support reached its ceiling
The Mexico diesel subsidy only reached 100% in the week of 12 to 18 September 2026. Expansión reported that this week is the second in a row at that level.
When the regime was reactivated on 21 March 2026, the diesel discount was 61.80%, El Financiero reported. Crude stood at US$99.92 a barrel, after the war with Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz.
By 22 to 28 August it had reached 82.59%. Expansión called that the largest discount granted in 2026 to that point.
In the week of 5 to 11 September it was 90.78%, leaving MXN 0.6787 a litre payable, about US$0.04. Acento Noticias and Tribuna de México carried those figures.
El CEO reported on 15 September 2026 that the mechanism had reached its limit. With no excise left to waive, further help must come from spending.
The petrol discounts swung the other way
Premium was the grade that lost its support altogether. El Imparcial reported that Hacienda scrapped its stimulus for the week of 15 to 21 August 2026.
That lasted a single week. By 22 to 28 August Premium was back on 4.03%, while Magna held 22.4%, worth MXN 1.50 a litre or about US$0.09.
In the week of 12 to 18 September Magna’s discount was 51.43% and Premium’s was 45.69%. Both have now jumped past half the duty.
Why diesel gets the special treatment
Pump prices explain it. National averages on 14 September 2026 were MXN 23.68 for Magna, about US$1.37, and MXN 27.011 for diesel, about US$1.57.
Infobae reported the averages, citing the Comisión Nacional de Energía and the consumer agency Profeco. Premium stood at MXN 28.588 a litre, about US$1.66.
Under an agreement between President Claudia Sheinbaum and retailers, Magna is capped at MXN 24.00 and diesel at MXN 27.00. That is about US$1.39 and US$1.57.
Diesel is sitting almost exactly on its ceiling. Magna is running about MXN 0.32 below its ceiling, some US$0.02, and Premium has no formal cap.
Ramsés Pech, an independent energy specialist, told Agencia Reforma the top-up would keep rising if international prices keep climbing.
Reforma reported that the aim is to avoid inflationary pressure. Diesel moves around 70% of Mexico’s freight, and most of it is imported from the United States.
What it costs the treasury
The Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas is a body of finance executives. Energía a Debate reported its estimate of the bill for January to July 2026.
It puts forgone fuel excise at MXN 47,300 million, about US$2.75 billion.
The Centro de Investigación Económica y Presupuestaria projected MXN 28,700 million for the whole of 2026, about US$1.67 billion. The budget research centre published that estimate on 15 July 2026.
The January to July actual already overshoots that full-year projection by roughly 65%. Support escalated hardest in the two months since.
Ramsés Pech gave a much larger figure for diesel alone, speaking to El CEO and El Cronista in mid-September 2026. He put its forgone tax at MXN 25,000 million to MXN 50,000 million a month, about US$1.45 billion to US$2.90 billion.
What it means at the pump
For a driver, the effect is a price that barely moves when world markets do. The saving never shows on the receipt.
For hauliers, the waiver and the top-up keep the diesel cap intact. For the treasury, they are a widening gap in revenue.
The current order expires on Friday 25 September 2026.
More: Mexico coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Mexico diesel subsidy
It is not a cash payment. Mexican fuel carries a federal excise duty, the IEPS, charged as a fixed number of pesos per litre. Each Friday the finance ministry publishes an order in the official gazette waiving part of that duty for the following week. For diesel the waiver is currently 100%, so the fuel carries no excise at all.
What are Magna and Premium
They are the two grades of petrol sold at Mexican filling stations. Magna is the regular grade and the cheaper of the two. Premium is the higher-octane grade. Each has its own excise quota for 2026, MXN 6.70 a litre for Magna and MXN 5.66 for Premium, about US$0.39 and US$0.33 respectively at the 18 September 2026 rate.
Does the discount lower the price I pay at the pump
Not directly. It stops the price rising, rather than pushing it down. Magna is capped at MXN 24.00 a litre and diesel at MXN 27.00, about US$1.39 and US$1.57, under an agreement between the president and the business sector. Diesel was averaging MXN 27.011, about US$1.57, in mid-September, essentially on the ceiling, which is why it needed the full waiver plus an extra payment.
What does all this cost the Mexican government
The Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas calculates that MXN 47,300 million of fuel excise, about US$2.75 billion, went uncollected in the first seven months of 2026. The Centro de Investigación Económica y Presupuestaria had projected MXN 28,700 million, about US$1.67 billion, for the whole year, in an estimate published on 15 July 2026. The seven-month actual has already overshot it by roughly 65%. Both figures were reported by the trade outlet Energía a Debate.
Sources: El Diario de Chihuahua, carrying Agencia Reforma, on the extra diesel stimulus, Yahoo Noticias on the weekly stimulus percentages, Periódico AM on the full diesel waiver, Acento Noticias on the previous week’s figures, Infobae on national pump prices, Infobae on the price caps agreed with retailers, Gasolineras en México on the 2026 excise quotas, Energía a Debate on the forgone revenue, Energía a Debate on the CIEP full-year estimate, El Imparcial on the August withdrawal of the Premium stimulus
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