Mexico dilutes fiscal reform as plan dodges sales tax

Mexico's government on Sunday proposed raising taxes for higher earners, putting a levy on stock market gains and boosting social programs to help the poor, but it shied away from widening a controversial sales tax amid an economic slowdown. The planned fiscal reform includes a universal pension and unemployment insurance in a country where half the population lives in poverty, as well as emergency spending that will bring on a budget deficit this year and next.