With Carlos Slim Leading the Way, Mexico’s Billionaires Have a Better Year

3/3/2015 Forbes

The combined net worth of Mexico’s billionaires increased $1.6 billion this year, from $142.9 to $144.5—or 1.12%. Mexican billionaires did better than in 2014, when their combined wealth dropped by 4%, but their aggregate wealth is still below the 2013 level of $148.6 billion.

Based on the 2015 Forbes billionaire data, with a net worth of $77.1 billion (equal to 6.1% of Mexico’s GDP), Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú kept his #2 position in the world’s billionaires rankings for the second consecutive year. In 2014, Slim lost the richest-person-on-the-planet title to Microsoft founder Bill Gates who, according to Forbes, has held the title for 16 of the past 21 years.

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Mexico Considers Sweetening Contract Terms After Crude Rout

Adam Williams and Angelina Rascouet, Bloomberg, 2/2/2015

Mexico will alter terms of oil blocks being auctioned this year in response to criticism from prospective bidders that crude’s rout made original requirements onerous.

Authorities will release new fiscal terms for shallow water contracts on Friday, Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said at an energy summit in London Monday. He spoke after BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said terms “need to be a little more competitive,” echoing comments by Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Mexico’s Alfa SAB.

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Mexico Sells €2.50 Billion in Euro Bonds Due 2024 and 2045

Anthony Harrup, Wall Street Journal, 2/26/2015

MEXICO CITY—The Mexican government sold €2.5 billion in nine-year and 30-year bonds Thursday, securing record low yields for the maturities and completing most of its international capital markets financing needs for 2015, a Finance Ministry official said Thursday.

Alejandro Díaz de León, head of public credit at the ministry, said demand for the bonds was 3.5 times the amount sold, with around 400 investors placing more than 600 orders.

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UPCOMING EVENT! Strengthening Regional Competitiveness: An Update on the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue

WHEN: Wednesday, March 4, 9:30-11:00am

WHERE: 6th Floor Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC

Click here to RSVP.

When Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto announced the creation of U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) in May 2013, they established a new strategic vision for economic cooperation, focused on delivering tangible and positive economic benefits to the people of the United States and Mexico. Stakeholder engagement is a fundamental component of the HLED, as highlighted by its inclusion in the recently announced list of 2015 strategic goals. Other key areas of work for the year include energy; modern borders; workforce development, regulatory cooperation; and partnering for regional and global leadership. Speakers will discuss the accomplishments of the HLED and priorities in U.S.-Mexico economic cooperation for the coming year.

Speakers

Stefan Selig
Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce

Catherine Novelli
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, U.S. Department of State

José Raúl Perales
Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Susan Kurland
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation

Adam Sieminski
Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy

Lori Faeth
Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

Kenneth Smith Ramos
Minister Counselor, Trade and NAFTA Office, Embassy of Mexico

For more information, or to RSVP, click here.

A live webcast will be available here.

Mexico’s Foreign Direct Investment Falls in 2014

Anthony Harrup, 2/24/2015

Mexico received $22.6 billion in foreign direct investment last year, including $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter, far short of the record investment received in 2013, according to preliminary numbers reported by the Economy Ministry on Tuesday .

Foreign direct investment was lower than the $42.1 billion reported for 2013, when the amount was boosted by $13.2 billion with Anheuser-Busch InBev’s buyout of the half of brewer Grupo Modelo that it didn’t already own.

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Study: Lighter-skinned Have Better Job Prospects in Mexico, as Racial Discrimination Endures

Fox News, 2/19/2015

MEXICO CITY –  A new study says racial and ethnic discrimination continues to be an obstacle for many in the Mexican labor market.

The Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America reports that the study determined lighter-skinned Mexicans with a university education are 11 percent more likely to win a higher-paying job than their darker-skinned counterparts.

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Emerging Markets – Mexico’s Peso Rises on Greece Hopes, Germany Data

Reuters, 2/17/2015

Mexico’s peso rose slightly on Tuesday, as positive data from Germany and hopes that Greece will reach a deal to remain in the euro zone lifted the beleaguered currency.

Mexico’s peso rose 0.1 percent in early afternoon trading to 14.9175 pesos per dollar after data from Germany showed analyst and investor sentiment climbed in February to its highest level in a year.

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