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Quote by: rmnunez Update on the state of the Mexican economy:
Mexican GDP grew by 3.9% last year (the US’ grew by 4.7), industrial production rose by 5.4% and the unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8% (in the US it is about 5.8%). The inflation rate hovers at 9.5% (in the US its about 3.3%). Mexican exports (90% to the US) came to 176 bill. while they imported 181.7 bill.
In the first half of 2004, investment in tourism grew by $1.97 bill. (a 39% growth over the prior 6 months). CEMEX is paying $4.1 bill (cash) for British cement producer RMC Group and will assume $1.7 bill. in debts. PEMEX successfully moved $1.75 bill. in bonds in EU and Asian markets, will use the revenue to finance capital improvements. HYLSAMEX steel producer prepaid $75 million in bank loans and took out another $175 million to settle other debts at more favourable rates, reducing their financing costs by over 10%. GRUPO MEXICO mining reduced $200 million in debt and secured $600 million in credit from Banamex. GEO Construction created a co-financing program with BBVA-Bancomer to provide $174 million in mortgage financing. A similar deal was done with Banco Azteca but details are pending. GRUPO ELEKTRA Retailers opened 100 new stores and relocated 30 at a cost of $120 million, 25 new stores are in the pipeline. Industrial Mexican conglomerate DESC sold its 51% in Velcon (a constant velocity joint-aker) for $85 million to GKN-UK (an automotive components manufacturer). Peoplesoft announced it had secured a $50 million contract to upgrade Mexico’s Tax Administration systems. GRUPO TMM trucking will acquire 51% of the Texas-Mexico railway branch to Kasnas City Southern railroad (KC must purchase the balance by Halloween). HERSHEY FOODS said its Mexican subsidiary is buying GRUPO LORENA confectioneers which had sales of over $30 million last year and VJ Jeanswear, US clotheirs announced it was relocating operations from 2 of its El Paso plants (and 1,035 jobs) to Mexico.
(from Latin Trade -an international business magazine) |
You evidently forgot to mention a few other items -
"Many police officers in Mexico City and elsewhere shake down motorists and take bribes to protect illegal street stalls and other businesses.
"For as long as I can remember," says Mexico City Police Chief Alejandro Gertz, "this is a police that has harmed everyone who lives in this city and this country with some act of corruption or inefficiency or inability." International surveys have long ranked Mexico as one of the world's most graft-ridden nations. One joke making the rounds in Mexico City has the country placing high on yet another corruption survey. Mexico would have topped the list, the punch line goes, if chagrined Mexicans hadn't slipped the judges a little something. "Corruption," Gertz says, "is what has wrought the bad distribution in our economy, the grave problems that we are confronting every day, the impossibility to continue growing as a country, the immense debts we have, the collapse of our money, the poverty, the misery of more than 50 percent of our population."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...xnewsun/752147