(Mexico) The Mexican Minister of Finance tried to reassure investors on Tuesday after the fall of the Mexico stock market on Monday (-6%) the day after the overwhelming victory of the left party in power in the presidential election and in Parliament.
Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O called on “international organizations and private investors” to assure them that “macroeconomic stability and fiscal prudence” will be President-designate Claudia Sheinbaum’s priorities when she takes office on 1er october.
The Mexico stock market rebounded by three points Tuesday morning.
Buoyed by the popularity of outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mme Sheinbaum became the first woman elected president in Mexican history with a landslide victory over her rival Xochitl Galvez.
The former mayor of Mexico City will be able to rely on a two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and perhaps in the Senate, according to partial results from the National Electoral Institute (INE).
If trends continue, the ruling Movement for National Regeneration (Morena) and its allies could amend the Constitution as they wish.
The new administration project “is based on financial discipline, respecting the autonomy of the Central Bank, attachment to the rule of law, facilitating national and foreign private investment,” according to the transcription of the interview broadcast by the Ministry of Finance.
Monday, Mme Sheinbaum said O’s Ramirez had agreed to stay in her position when she takes office on June 1.er october.
Mme Sheinbaum pledged to continue the policies of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, building “a welfare state” using social programs and benefits.
It inherits a deficit that could be 5.9% of GDP this year, the highest in decades, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday that it was not likely “the new administration will change the fiscal, monetary or trade policies” of Mexico, the United States’ largest partner.
“Like previous administrations, the country’s new government will face the challenge of maintaining economic stability while meeting expectations for better living conditions and more public services,” S&P added in a statement.
“Although Mexico’s economic growth was 3.1% last year, it remains underperforming compared to other emerging markets,” the rating agency added.