Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 2, 2009 / 06:31 pm (CNA).- In response to the debate in the Mexican congress on next year’s budget and fiscal policy, the country's  bishops have called for a more just, rigorous and honest fiscal system.

We hope that by entering into discussion, as well as “searching for the best path for the good of our country, an appropriate solution can be reached,” the bishops said in statement about the heated debate over whether or not to raise taxes.

“The tax burden must respect the principles of solidarity, rationality and equality,” said Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Tuxtla Gutierrez, speaking on behalf of the Mexican bishops.

He said any fiscal reform must be “just, efficient and effective” and should be focused on protecting the poor and needy families, “so that we can all have a decent life.”

The archbishop recalled that all Christians have the duty to pay taxes, as “taxes and public spending are of crucial economic importance for the civil and political community.”  He added that the objective should be “to make public financing an effective instrument of development and solidarity.”

Just and efficient fiscal policy “produces virtuous effects on the economy because it leads to growth in jobs, business and non-profit initiatives, and it contributes to the credibility of the State as the guarantor of social assistance and protection programs, which are intended particularly to protect those who are weakest,” Archbishop Cabrera said.

“In the distribution of resources, public finance policy must follow the principles of solidarity and equality,” with special emphasis on sustaining the family, he added.

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