Overview

The new AMLO administration looks to implement change in Mexico
OBG
plus

Winning the 2018 presidential elections on a populist, anti-corruption ticket, the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, has proved controversial in the first months of its six-year term. As homicide rates continue their upward trajectory, national polls show dissatisfaction, with some segments of the electorate impatient to see promised changes materialise.…

Overview

Regional integration and multilateral agreements bolster global trade
OBG
plus

Global trade faces protectionist headwinds that are dampening the outlook for growth in the coming years. According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), trade volumes expanded by 3% in 2018 and are expected to decline slightly to 2.6% in 2019 before rebounding to 3% in 2020. This may be the first time since the 2007-08 global financial crisis that growth will fall below a 3% average, as significant…

Overview

Infrastructure projects, reforms and trade deals to stimulate economic growth in Mexico
OBG
plus

Following a series of economic crises in the 1980s, Mexico progressively abandoned its relatively closed, inward-looking economic development strategy. Periodic waves of liberalising structural reforms have underpinned its transformation from an economy once heavily dependent on crude oil exports, to one of the world’s most open, trade-orientated emerging economies. One of the most important steps…

Overview

Insurance technology taps premium growth potential in emerging markets
OBG
plus

Two of the biggest trends in global insurance in recent years are premium growth in emerging markets and the rising importance of technology across the supply chain. The latter has come to be referred to as insurtech, a potentially disruptive trend that heralds both threats to and opportunities for incumbents and newcomers alike. While technological solutions are being applied along the length of the…

Overview

Mexican banks tipped for long-term lending growth
OBG
plus

Since the last major financial crisis in 1994-95, Mexico has seen the emergence of a banking sector characterised by robust regulation, with high levels of capitalisation and profitability. While economic growth has slowed over the past half-decade and monetary policy has tightened in more recent years (see Economy chapter), credit growth remains robust, leading to an improved credit-to-GDP ratio.…

Overview

Inclusion in global indices stimulate capital markets activity, but more growth is needed
OBG
plus

The period of easily raising funds from abroad seems to be coming to an end for emerging markets around the world. In the new environment of higher interest rates in the US and increased competition for capital flows, portfolio managers are becoming more selective with where they place their money. One way for developing nations to ensure that their financial markets can continue to attract foreign…

Overview

Increase in premium highlights potential of Mexico's insurance sector
OBG
plus

Mexico is very much a multi-risk insurance market. In addition to natural disasters such as earthquakes, active volcanoes, hurricanes and tsunamis, high levels of organised crime in certain parts of the country pose a constant risk to individuals and property. Despite this high potential for growth, the sector’s development has been held back by disappointing economic growth in recent decades. Around…

Overview

Mexico's stock exchanges strengthened by new financial products
OBG
plus

A free-floating currency, a large and diversified economy, the absence of capital controls and an increasingly attractive tax regime continue to make Mexico one of the stars of emerging market portfolio investment. The Mexican peso remains the second-most widely traded emerging market currency after the Chinese yuan, and is often treated by investors as a proxy for emerging market sentiment more broadly.…

Overview

As costs decline, renewable sources are seeing an inexorable rise, particularly among developing economies
OBG
plus

Although the world remains largely dependent upon fossil fuels for power generation, a gradual transition towards renewable sources has been taking place since the 1990s, underpinned by multilateral deals such as the Kyoto Protocol, the Doha Amendment and, more recently, the Paris Agreement. Investment and development in renewable technologies has historically been led by developed countries, however,…

Overview

Efforts to boost crude oil production set to revive Mexico's energy sector
OBG
plus

Since the nationalisation of the oil industry and the establishment of state-run Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in 1938, hydrocarbons production has been a significant driver of growth, and the energy and utilities sector remains a key cornerstone of Mexico’s economy. The sector has evolved rapidly in recent years after a comprehensive energy reform was introduced in December 2013, which has helped…