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UPCOMING WEBINAR - MEXICO ELECTIONS: AT A CROSSROAD...

The Final Touches on Energy Reform
MEXICO · Report · 10 Dec 2013

Executive Summary After the Party of the PRD abandoned reform talks, the PAN and PRI began to toughen their respective negotiating positions as the political and time constraints that accompany the very final days of the regular session of Congress provide greater incentives to bargain all the mo...

A Bold Proposal for The Energy Reform
MEXICO · In Brief · 08 Dec 2013 · 1 response

The long wait is over. PAN and PRI have presented a draft of the energy reform that is currently being discussed in the Senate, where the debate is expected to continue until Monday, before it passes to the Chamber of Deputies. It is a bold proposal that allows for private investment in power pro...

New Inklings of Growth
MEXICO · Report · 03 Dec 2013

Executive SummaryThe economic data released last month mainly corresponded to September and October, and for the most part was negative. Consumer confidence slumped significantly in September (3.3 index points lower than August’s reading), and in October (2.9 points below that of September). The ...

New Glimmers of Accountability
MEXICO · Report · 27 Nov 2013

Executive Summary When the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) reclaimed the presidential mansion of Los Pinos after a 12-year absence following last year’s election of President Enrique Peña Nieto, there were widespread concerns we might witness a return to the opacity, corruption and lack o...

2014 Budget: More of the Same
MEXICO · Report · 27 Nov 2013

Executive Summary The Chamber of Deputies approved a final expenditure law for 2014 that contained few surprises or major changes from the original draft of the spending bill proposed by the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto. The scant changes that were introduced were largely design...

New Taxes to Weigh on Economy
MEXICO · Report · 20 Nov 2013

Executive Summary Last week the Chamber of Deputies passed the Federal Spending Budget (FSB) for 2014. It authorizes 8.47 trillion pesos in spending, a real term 8.8% increase over the 2013 spending budget.According to the Ministry of Finance (SHCP), the budget favors investment expenditure over ...

Shortchanging Public Security
MEXICO · Report · 20 Nov 2013

Executive Summary President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has been roundly criticized for the slow pace with which it has defined some key strategies and programs and has gotten the basic machinery of government up and running since taking office last December. This lethargy has been striki...

Budgetary Sleight of Hand
MEXICO · Report · 12 Nov 2013

Executive Summary The most significant economic news out of Mexico last week was the decision by the country’s central bank to adjust its economic growth projections for this year and next. Banco de México (Banxico) said that economic activity indicators for the first half of the year had proven ...

Stuck on Political Reform
MEXICO · Report · 12 Nov 2013

Executive Summary With just over a month to go before the current session concludes, Congress has little to show for its efforts other than progress on budget and tax policy. And although lawmakers are well behind schedule in addressing crucial structural reform issues that the major parties had ...

The 2014 Budget and the Economy
MEXICO · Report · 05 Nov 2013

Executive SummaryThe economic figures published in Mexico over the course of October point to an incipient recovery relative to data released in previous months. The most significant of the positive news items include:A slight increase in manufacturing output reported for August (+1.6% yoy);The 1...

AMLO Protests Lose Steam
MEXICO · In Brief · 30 Oct 2013

The former presidential candidate of the Left and the PRD, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has found in the opposition to the Energy Reform a new political opportunity, but it is losing steam rapidly as a source of popularity and public relevance. With a strategy based on public meetings, and radio a...

Scaling Back Revenues
MEXICO · Report · 29 Oct 2013

Executive Summary Banco de México announced Friday that it was lowering its target interbank lending rate by 25 basis points from 3.75% to 3.50%. The move, which was widely expected, was the central bank’s third rate cut year to date. In the statement accompanying the rate announcement, Banco de ...

Banxico Overconfident?
MEXICO · In Brief · 25 Oct 2013

Banco de México just announced a 25 basis point reduction in the Domestic Interbank Rate, to an annual 3.5%. It was an expected move by most market operators, i.e. 23 out of 24 participants of the latest Banamex Money Market Survey. Banxico justified this action based on the fact that domestic in...

Public Insecurity Worsens Further
MEXICO · Report · 23 Oct 2013

Executive Summary The overall crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants has risen consistently since 2010 according to the National Statistics Office’s Third National Victimization and Security Perception Survey or “ENVIPE”. The study, conducted between March and April of 2013, queried people on matters...

Industrial Decoupling’s Future
MEXICO · Report · 23 Oct 2013

Executive Summary The most significant news on the economic front last week was the Chamber of Deputies’ vote to pass its version of the 2014 Revenue Law. Changes to tax laws include the levying of a 5% tax on junk food (fruit-flavored candies, chocolates, chips or crisps, gelatins, ice cream, an...