For NOVUM's editorial team, this week's rates are not a technical adjustment but a deliberate containment policy: 'As tensions in Hormuz have persisted and fuel demand in the United States has grown, and even though prices have risen considerably, the Mexican government is trying to stabilize them.' Mexico's Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (Hacienda) reactivated the stimulus for premium gasoline and raised the diesel subsidy to its highest level of the year for the week of August 22 to 28, 2026, according to Bloomberg Línea.
The stimulus is the discount Hacienda applies to the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) to moderate the final price when international oil benchmarks rise. On the evening of August 20, the Secretariat of Energy renewed, for six months, the voluntary agreement with fuel retailers to keep the maximum price of regular gasoline at 24 pesos per liter and diesel below 27 pesos. Markets remain under pressure from the Middle East war, which included the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of global crude oil trade flows, according to Bloomberg Línea. In this reading, the results of containment are already visible in domestic prices: 'so much so that it has been successful and Mexico has had lower inflation than the United States in recent months.'
For the week of August 22 to 28, the rates were set as follows:
- Premium gasoline: a stimulus of 0.23 pesos per liter, equivalent to 4%, with an IEPS rate of 5.43 pesos; the support returned after one week without a discount.
- Regular gasoline: a stimulus of 1.50 pesos, equivalent to 22.4%, with a rate of 5.20 pesos, compared to 5.60 pesos the previous week.
- Diesel: a stimulus of 6.08 pesos, equivalent to 82%, with a rate of 1.28 pesos, the lowest of 2026, according to Expansión; the previous low was 1.38 pesos for the week of April 4 to 10.
For diesel, the rationale is industrial rather than social: 'the aim of adjusting the diesel IEPS is to keep value and production chains operating at adequate prices, and in doing so, push the economy forward.'
The stimulus is updated every Friday in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, and next week's rates will depend on price benchmarks in the United States and crude oil behavior. The maximum price agreement, renewed for six months, maintains the containment horizon through February 2027, 'even if there appears to be a global slowdown on the horizon.'
This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.