Mexico cenbank chief sees no rate hikes for now

Reuters, 1/8/10

Mexico’s new central bank chief said on Friday he would not raise interest rates for now and suggested the finance minister could attend

monetary policy meetings to improve cooperation on the economy.

In his first speech since taking over the central bank at the start of the year, Agustin Carstens said recent hikes in taxes and fuel prices would temporarily boost inflation but would not affect monetary policy decisions unless consumer behavior was substantially altered.

“Although the rise in taxes and fuel prices has created an increase in prices and an expectation of inflation, the effect will be transitory and limited and will fade within a year, which means there will be no need for an adjustment in monetary policy,” Carstens said in a university speech.

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Mexican Senate Committee Approves Bill to Limit Interest Rates

Bloomberg, 4/15/2009

Mexico’s Senate finance committee approved a bill that would allow the central bank to limit interest rates and fees that banks can charge.

“Banco de Mexico will ensure that institutions give loans or credit in accessible and reasonable conditions, and it will take corrective measures so that operations are offered under those terms,” the bill says. The initiative will now move to the floor of the Senate.

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Mexico bill to curb bank fees passes committees

Reuters, 3/26/2009

Committees in Mexico’s Senate approved a proposal to curb high interest rates and fees that banks charge customers, possibly setting up the proposal for a final vote before July’s midterm elections.

Senators from Mexico’s three main parties voted late on Wednesday in favor of more government controls on bank charges.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill soon. If passed, the measure would be sent to the lower house for final approval.

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PRD calls for interest rate regulation (in Spanish)

El Universal, 3/15/2009

Carlos Navarrete

The Senate leader of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, Carlos Navarrete Ruiz, called for financial institutions to moderate the interest rates they charge. If they fail to do so, he said, Congress will intervene.

He alleged that the Bank of Mexico and organisms such as the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (CONDUSEF) tend to “take the side of bankers.” He added, “that is not their duty.”

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Mexico Lawmakers to Debate Cap on Interest Rates: Week Ahead

Bloomberg, 3/9/2009

Manlio Fabio Beltrones

Mexican lawmakers, led by the three biggest political parties, will this week debate a proposed bill to cap the fee and interest rates that the country’s banks can charge. Senators will meet tomorrow with Guillermo Babatz, president of the National Banking and Securities Commission. Leaders of party factions in Congress favor the proposal even as the finance ministry and Mexico’s banking association said last week that they oppose it. Legislators say they want to help borrowers who may have more trouble paying debts as a worsening economy reduces jobs, and remittances from Mexicans living abroad decline.

Congress wants interest rates that really match the global market and that don’t plunder those who use consumer credit,” Manlio Fabio Beltrones, head of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, told reporters on March 5.

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