AMLO: Record reserves and super peso give the country resistance to global turbulence

Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia

The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, August 6, 2024, p. 3

Thanks to our economic strategyMexico can hold on a little longer in the face of global market instability, said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Asked yesterday at the morning press conference about the fall in financial markets, he attributed the phenomenon to the rise in unemployment in the United States, whose rate rose from 3 to 4.3 percent in the last month.

In the case of our country, he presented indicators that the national economy has accumulated during his six-year term, such as that the reserves of the Bank of Mexico reached a record of 221 billion dollars and the peso has appreciated in these six years, for the first time in half a century, and despite the fall it remains above other currencies.

This is what shows that our economic strategy has worked. Because if this financial crisis catches us weakened it would affect us greatly.he stressed.

The federal president said that yesterday morning the US dollar opened the day at 19 pesos and 55 cents per unit.

When pressed about the international situation and the panic in the markets of Asia, Europe and the United States, the president assured that the national economy is strong in the face of any contingency. We have a buffer zone, it doesn’t affect us that much because our finances are very strong. We can hold out a little longer for two reasons: The first is that there are sufficient reserves in the Bank of Mexico, and the other is due to the appreciation of the peso, contrary to what happened in the last eight six-year terms, when there were constant devaluations.

He stressed that the fall of the peso due to financial instability was not very significant.

To support his words, he presented a slide showing the impact of this financial situation on the currencies of various nations.

According to the data, the Swiss franc is now the most appreciated currency against the US dollar – surpassing the peso – with 13.9 percent in favor; and our currency is second, with 5.8 percent in favor.

However, López Obrador said, the Canadian dollar and the euro fell 4.4 and 3.7 percent, respectively; the Japanese yen, 29 percent; the Brazilian real, 44 percent; and the Russian ruble, 77 percent.

He said that last week an increase in unemployment was reported in the United States.

Official figures indicate that only 114,000 new jobs were created in our northern neighbor in July, 35 percent less than expected.

This made financial markets nervous and affected the exchange rate in countries around the world.said the Mexican head of the Executive.

But, he insisted, It doesn’t affect us that much, because our finances are very strong; of course, the United States is our neighbor, there is economic integration and it affects everyone: it affects Japan, it affects everywhere. But we can resist a little more..

He took the time to be ironic: “The only thing I don’t like is the whole ‘black Monday’ thing. Why not white Monday or another colour?”