Following the U.S. elections of 2016, the topic of Mexico has been front and center for the newly elected White House administration, revealing considerable uncertainty with respect to crafting concise policies. During his election campaign, U.S President Donald Trump promised to renegotiate the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement and to reinforce an import tax on Mexican goods, all the while criticizing U.S. companies for shifting production to Mexico and posturing about building a border wall. Inevitably, fear of Mr. Trump’s trade restrictions and economic policies affected investment and consumer sentiments in Mexico, sending the peso to its weakest level on record against the U.S. dollar in January 2017. Pablo Soria de Lachica, acclaimed expert in international trade and foreign exchange, analyzes the steady growth of Mexico’s economy in the first quarter of 2017, despite the low expectations and financial forecasting of economists expressed at the beginning of the year.
As the global economy tries to find ways to cope with “Trumpeconomics” and searches for new partnerships and alliances, Mexico seems to have overcome the initial panic regarding trade restrictions with its northern neighbor. According to seasonally adjusted data from the National Statistical Agency, the country’s gross domestic product grew at a rate of 0.7%, maintaining the same pace as for the previous three months; preliminary figures released in April projected quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.6%. In a statement released on May 31st, the Central Bank of Mexico announced it raised the 2017 economic growth forecast from an estimate of 1.3%-2.3% to 1.5%-2.5%, sending a clear message that the economy is sustaining resilience in the face of Donald Trump’s aggressive protectionist political and economic stance. The Bank is set to keep 2018 growth expectations unchanged while projecting the inflation rate above 4% for 2017.
Throughout his presidency, Enrique Nieto has introduced and implemented important structural economic and political reforms aimed to attract domestic and foreign investment in Mexico. Energy reforms in particular have succeeded in contributing billions of dollars to the national budget, resisting recession and maintaining the economy’s growth rate of 2.3% per year. While it is undeniable that Mr. Nieto’s brave reforms will greatly benefit the country over the long term, Mexico’s economy still heavily depends on its largest trade partner, United States and any uncertainty in this partnership can cause harm to the economic prosperity of the nation. However, the recent growing political crisis around the Trump administration’s possible ties to Russia have cast doubt on the ability of the U.S president to deliver his full term in office or to generate the full support of Congress, factors which Mexican economists evaluate with optimism for the Mexican economy and continued foreign and domestic investment trends.
Pablo Soria de Lachica is a prominent international trade expert, broker and philanthropist. He graduated from the Universidad Tecnológico de México (UNITEC) receiving a Master degree in Business Administration and soon launched his successful career in international trading, market analysis and tailored investment. He collaborates with Kartoshka, a pioneer of sales, telemarketing, and customer support technologies worldwide. Pablo Soria de Lachica is an author of instructional texts providing guidance and expertise on basic investment principles and techniques.
Pablo Soria de Lachica — Welcomes Uruguay’s Infrastructure Investment: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pablo-soria-de-lachica—-welcomes-uruguays-infrastructure-investment-2016-08-31-01601724
Pablo Soria de Lachica Discusses Ways to Move from the Domestic Market to the Forex Market: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pablo-soria-lachica-discusses-ways-160400994.html
