Mexico says U.S. economy a worry for growth

Vidgaray

Reuters, 5/22/2013

Mixed signals from the U.S. economy are clouding the growth outlook for Mexico and it needs to be ready for the shocks that could accompany a possible withdrawal of U.S. monetary stimulus, Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday. Mexico’s government last week cut its growth outlook for 2013 to 3.1 percent from 3.5 percent after a soft first quarter, and Videgaray said Latin America’s No. 2 economy has been hurt by weaker U.S. demand for its exports.

“Without a doubt the most important thing is the weakness in the growth of the United States … which still shows mixed signals,” Videgaray told the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit in Mexico City. “We have good data in the United States and the next day we have discouraging data.”

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Mexico aims to overhaul tax system, raise revenue

Reuters, 5/6/2013

Tax breaks for attending “civic values” courses, tax-free sales of second-hand furniture, special treatment for call centers and an informal economy employing six out of 10 workers are all in the line of fire as Mexico prepares a long-awaited tax overhaul. An analysis of budget data shows Mexico’s extensive network of tax breaks and stimulus programs generate costs equal to about half the taxes actually collected.

Mexico has the lowest tax revenue in the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, crimping its ability to spend on health, infrastructure and social programs vital to boost living standards and growth in what is Latin America’s second-largest economy. Finance Minister Luis Videgaray has given few details of the overhaul, due to be presented in the autumn session of Congress, but has promised it will be “large,” reviewing both direct and indirect taxes and making those who earn more, pay more.

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Videgaray Speaks at Mexico Economic Summit (Video)

Bloomberg, 3/21/2013

Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray talks about the peso, energy strategy and bank lending. Vidergary speaks with Bloomberg’s Adriana Arai at the Bloomberg Link Mexico Economic Summit in Mexico City.

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Will Mexico Welcome Wildcatters?

Videgaray

The Wall Street Journal, 2/24/2013

During the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney recommended “self-deportation” for undocumented workers. President Obama seems to be aiming for the same outcome by perpetuating economic malaise. Migrants who can’t find work are likely to go home on their own.

Can newly inaugurated Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), do any better by the Mexican people? Last week I sat down with MIT-educated Finance Minister Luis Videgaray, who is widely viewed as the economic brains of the Peña Nieto operation, to try to find out.

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Del Mazo is appointed to Banobras and De la Madrid to Bancomext [in Spanish]

El Universal, 12/6/2012

Videgaray

The Secretary of Treasury Luis Videgaray presented six officials that will propel the development banking in Mexico in the government of Enrique Peña Nieto.

Enrique de la Madrid, will assume the portfolio of the Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior (Bancomext) and Alfredo del Mazo was appointed to the Banco Nacional de Obras (Banobras).

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Videgaray to Be Mexican Finance Head as Pena Nieto Takes Power-Mexico Institute in the News

Bloomberg Business Week, 11/30/2012

Vidgaray

His most immediate challenges will be to overhaul the tax system and open the energy industry to more private investment.

“It’s absolutely a fantastic choice,” said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. “It’s recognition for all the hard work and it gives him a very powerful position in Mexico. I think markets are going to see that as a very positive step forward.”

One position Pena Nieto has yet to name is his ambassador to the U.S., Mexico’s top trade partner and its neighbor along a 2,000-mile border.

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Mexico’s Incoming Leader Seeks to Boost Energy Sector .

The Wall Street Journal, 10/3/12

Mexico’s new government plans to pass energy-sector legislation early in the new year that should help boost the country’s petroleum production and fuel its growth prospects, Luis Videgaray, head of the president-elect’s transition team said Wednesday.

The energy legislation is part of a broad-ranging strategy that Mexico’s next president Enrique Pena Nieto plans to roll-out when he takes office in December. Mr. Videgaray, who is widely tipped to be named Mr. Pena Nieto’s chief of staff, called energy legislation the “low-hanging fruit.”

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EPN Presents his Transition Team; he goes with ex legislators [in Spanish]

El Universal, Red Politica, 9/4/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

Members of EPN’s team include: Luis Videgaray, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong,  Roberto Miranda,Rosario Robles, María de los Ángeles Fromow Rangel, Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, Alejandro Murat Hinojosa, Enrique de la Madrid Cordero, Aurelio Nuño, Rodrigo Reyna, Fernando Galindo Favela, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Alejandra Lagune,Ildefonso Guajardo, Emilio Lozoya Austin, Gerardo Luis Esparza, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, Cuauhtémoc Ochoa, Roberto Campa Cifrián, Alfredo Castillo, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, Carolina Viggiano, Paloma Guillén Vicente and Luis Enrique Puente.

Read More and watch  Peña Nieto’s speech here…

Enrique Peña Nieto asks the citizens and the opposition to help him achieve four political agreements [in Spanish]

Animal Politico, 7/11/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

Peña Nieto asked the citizens and the opposition to help him achieve four political agreements.  Namely:  the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, increased transparency and access to information, the creation of a group to monitor the government’s advertisements so as to ensure freedom of expression, and the formation of a group to start working on the transition stage so as to be prepared with more pacts (“compromisos”) for when they assume office in December.  Peña Nieto also named three members of his new team: Luis Videgaray, Peñas former campaign manager, will become his coordinator for public policy, Jesús Murillo Karam, will be in charge of judicial tasks, and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong who will be in charge of coordination and political dialogue.Read More…