Mexico’s GDP Rises in First Quarter Amid Robust Service Sector

05/23/2018 Bloomberg

Mexico’s gross domestic product rose in line with the preliminary estimate in the first quarter as the service sector grew steadily.

Mexico’s economy is expected to grow slightly faster this year than in 2017 as the nation gears up for a general election in July, which has historically driven up government spending and other economic activity. Yet analysts are now expecting the next central bank move to be an interest rate hike, whereas a month ago they predicted a cut, as the peso takes a hit amid missed deadlines for a Nafta deal and as it becomes more likely leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador could win the presidential race July 1.

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Mexico central bank holds rates steady, flags peso uncertainty

05/17/2018 Reuters

The Bank of Mexico logo is seen on the facade of an office building in downtown Mexico City, Mexico, June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday, and policymakers warned that uncertainty surrounding trade talks with the United States and Canada as well as domestic elections could negatively affect the peso.

The Banco de Mexico’s governing board unanimously voted to keep the key rate steady at 7.50 percent, unchanged for a second meeting in a row after a string of increases, as forecast by 21 of 25 analysts polled by Reuters.

The bank’s policymakers said the current rate should help inflation fall back to their 3 percent target and that they were closely following potential inflation pressures from a weaker peso, adding they could hike in a timely manner, if needed.

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Mexico central bank to create cyber security unit after hack via @reuters

05/15/2018 Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s central bank said on Tuesday that it was creating a cyber security unit, following a hack on a domestic payments system at the end of April that affected Mexican banks.

The central bank said in a notice in the government’s daily gazette that the new unit would design and issue guidelines on information security for the country’s banks, which are supervised by the central bank.

Central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said on Monday that the country had seen an unprecedented attack on payment system connections and that he hoped that measures being taken would stop future incidents.

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Mexico’s banking system misplaces $18M to $20M in transfers via @washingtonpost

05/14/2018 The Washington Post

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s banking system has somehow misplaced between $18 million and $20 million in electronic transfers between banks, authorities said Monday, the latest in a series of embarrassing breakdowns that have affected debit card purchases and e-payments across the country.

Mexico’s central bank and regulatory agencies said they are not sure whether the problem with settlement transactions among banks was the work of outside hackers, an inside scam or errors.

But in a country where phishing emails and freelance debt collectors often use banks’ logos and letterheads, it is no secret that bank security standards are lax.

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Mexican Leftist Candidate Has ‘Affable’ Meeting With BlackRock’s Fink

05/08/2018 Reuters

NEW YORK/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s presidential front-runner met BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink on Monday, part of a push by the left-wing politician to reassure investors about his policies ahead of the July vote, and his team said the men clicked personally.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is ahead by double digits in most major polls, has been openly fighting with some Mexican business leaders, and said he would review major energy contracts and a $13 billion airport project.

His campaign has met with multiple foreign fund managers in recent months to try and calm concerns about his policies, with aides telling investors that he is not opposed to foreign investment and markets.

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Mexico’s Economy Picked Up Pace in First Quarter

04/30/2018 The Wall Street Journal

Mexican economic activity accelerated in the first quarter, growing at its fastest rate in six quarters as industrial production recovered and services picked up pace.

Gross domestic product, a measure of output in goods and services, expanded 1.1% seasonally adjusted from the fourth quarter of 2017, the National Statistics Institute said Monday.

The increase, which translates into an annualized rate of 4.6%, was the highest since the third quarter of 2016, and above the 0.8% expansion in the previous quarter.

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Mexican growth accelerates despite elections and Nafta jitters

04/30/2018 Financial Times

Mexico’s economy shrugged off election and Nafta jitters to grow a stronger-than-expected 2.4 per cent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, above the market forecast of 1.7 per cent growth and higher than the 1.5 per cent expansion seen in the fourth quarter.

The latest good news – coming on top of a larger-than-expected trade surplus, declining inflation and a peso that has bounced off recent lows – comes as expectations of a deal in principle sooner rather than later between the US, Canada and Mexico on updating their 24-year-old free trade pact gathered pace.

Compared with the fourth quarter, data released by state statistics office Inegi showed the economy accelerated 1.1 per cent, well above the range of 0.5 to 0.9 per cent expected by the market.

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