Americas > North America > Mexico > Mexico's central bank has two primary goals

Mexico: Mexico's central bank has two primary goals

2015/08/02

Central bank authorities decided to keep rates at a record 3.0 % in the wake of Mexico's sluggish increase, according to Bloomberg Business. In an effort to mitigate the economic fallout, the bank has taken measures to boost the peso, which has tumbled in reaction to the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

Mexico's central bank has two primary goals: preserving purchasing power of the peso and controlling inflation. Although banking officials kept rates at current levels, the idea of a rate hike is not off the table, particularly since U.S. rate hikes may come any minute at this time. The United States saw increase in the second quarter, leaving analysts to speculate that the Fed would most likely raise rates. Experts as well note that borrowing costs in Mexico will rise with the Fed increase.

Mexican banking officials overwhelmingly agreed that a rate hike before U.S. adjustments would be costly to the Mexican economy, and they maintain that a borrowing cost increase would keep pace with U.S. rates and preserve economic stability. However, the United States is not the only external factor that Mexico is worried about, most notably the heavy toll that lower oil prices are having on Mexico's economy, and the price decline is an extra reason behind peso devaluation.

In response to a low peso, the central bank is boosting the number of dollars sold during auctioning. The bank will go from $52 million to $200 million of the all of dollars being sold daily. The plan will stretch into September, and the central bank reduced the depreciation threshold from 1.5 % to 1.0 % to auction an extra $200 million. The peso has encountered 20-% depreciation in the completed year. The peso is the majority popular emerging market currency on the trading sphere, but a U.S. rate increase would yield returns that are additional lucrative for investors, shoving aside volatile currencies such as the peso.

In other areas of the Mexican economy, manufacturing unexpectedly dropped in May, with domestic consumption only increasing on a marginal basis, and Mexico only expanded 0.1 % that same month at the same time as compared to April. Mining and construction as well weakened. May's performance marked the economy's worst annualized performance in nine months, and Mexican increase stood at 1.5 % that same month in 2014. Oil production as well fell 8.0 % in 2015, forcing the government to cut vital spending measures. Authorities note that Mexico remains in good standing, as the country has a $70 billion line of credit with the International Monetary Fund, and the country has enough foreign reserves in the all of $191 billion, as of July.

Related Articles
  • Mexican marimba band plans papal performance

    2016/01/28 At the same time as Pope Francis visits the southern Mexico national of Chiapas in February, the Diaz sisters will serenade him with music from the region's favorite instrument: the marimba. The wood-planked instrument resembles its metal cousin, the xylophone. And nobody knows marimbas better than the four Diaz sisters, who began playing them in churches three decades ago at the invitation of the late Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruiz.
  • Energy Mexico Oil Gas Power

    2016/01/16 A new business era has begun in Mexico. Two years next the so-called energy reform ended the national monopoly that ruled for 70 years, private sector companies are getting ready to seize all the opportunities that will arise thanks to this new regulatory framework. The access gate to this new market is called Energy Mexico Oil Gas Power 2016 Expo & Congress, and it will take place on January 26-28 in the Centro Banamex convention center, in Mexico City. For the initial time next the overhaul undertaken by the reform, there will be an event specially designed to offer the majority up-to-date knowledge in the industry, high-level networking opportunities, and the majority advanced tools to make the difference in this brand new business environment.
  • Global growth will be disappointing in 2016: IMF's Lagarde

    2016/01/02 World economic increase will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has as well deteriorated, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide. Added to that, increase in world trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in a lot of nations still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, she said.
  • Peru-Colombia-Mexico-Chile Pacific Alliance boosts regional ties

    2015/12/26 Four years have passed since the Pacific Alliance united Peru with Colombia, Mexico and Chile and the benefits on the agreement are presently clear to see Peru has enjoyed sustained economic expansion during the completed decade, but with commodity prices falling in additional recent times the country’s government has been exploring new avenues for increase. Numerous sectors of the Andean country’s economy have by presently enjoyed rapid increase inclunding markets such as insurance and financial services, and the result has been an enlarged and affluent middle class. With this have come better amounts of disposable gain, much of it derived from the successes of the country’s extensive export-led industries.
  • Increase among the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

    2015/11/18 Increase among the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies softened to 3.1 % in the second quarter of 2015, down from 3.2 % in the initial quarter and 3.4 % a year ago, according to an APEC economic analysis released on Tuesday. The statement said the increase slowdown reflected the prolonged weakness in world economic activity as the modest recovery in advanced economies was matched by a general slowdown in emerging market economies. The moderation in GDP levels could be attributed to declining investments and lacklustre exports, according to the statement. "Economies across the Asia-Pacific continue to grow but find themselves in a holding pattern of lower increase in the absence of high trade volumes," said Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.