The Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, who died in exile in Paris in 1915, left behind one of the sentences that is still often uttered today: “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.” Migrants cross this border marked by the Rio Grande, Weapons and drugs from one side to the other, some of the main problems of both countries. But also good economic news. Last year's data has filled this new year with optimism. Sometimes the neighbors lend you the corkscrew and sometimes they refuse you bread and salt. This year it's time to uncork.
The poor relations between the United States and China clearly have a beneficiary. Mexico has – with data up to last November – practically surpassed the Asian package in exports to the United States, its main trading partner, with 439,000 million, compared to 393,000 for the Chinese; During the same period, remittances from migrants from the United States to their Mexican families exceed the best forecasts, the remittances have reached 57.7 billion dollars and are expected to close the balance in 2023 at almost 64 billion, a gold medal and a record . Consumption is increasing. There is more.
There is no country in the world where the word “nearshoring,” essentially the relocation of companies to nearby countries to achieve higher performance thanks to cheaper labor, has been searched more on Google. Business people have the term ingrained in their hearts, but they also know it on the street and the government mentions it with pride. Foreign investment (i.e. gringa) reached another record of $32.9 billion between January and September, and while it's not all due to new companies, but rather new money in already existing companies, the immediate future is linked to this neologism: nearshoring . And there is more.
Mexico's economic strength, which international experts rate above the rest of Latin America, was seen in the best light on Wall Street. The beginning of the year was ahead of the Three Wise Men, with the recent placement of historic debt on international markets: $7.5 billion, to which the US stock market responded by demanding three times the offer. And they just took out another 2,000 million. The Mexican Ministry of Finance's congratulations for this year were not about peace and love, but about financial and economic strength. And yes, there is more.
The currency reacted as expected and also showed geological stability. The Mexican peso gained 13% against the dollar, the second-best performance after the Colombian currency's approval. The exchange rate has been below 17 pesos per dollar for several months, far from the more than 20 pesos it was quoted in previous years. The economy, like coins, has heads and tails, or as they say in Mexico, eagles and suns. If the currency is strong, migrants' remittances lose value. All in all, things are going well in this chapter.
2024 is an election year in Mexico. On June 2, one male and two female candidates will face each other in the elections, one of which will most likely be the winner, the first female president in the country's history. The economy will not be a frequent topic in the election campaign, at least from the opposition, not to mention that the minimum wage has risen above the CPI, which everyone considers a success. It is better to insist on other issues: migrants will continue to suffer at the brave border, and weapons and drugs will circulate without the need to present a passport. Poor Mexico, such a rich country with so much poverty.
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