A woman exchanges dollars for Mexican pesos.FJZEA (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The Mexican peso starts March on the right foot.
The Mexican currency has appreciated this Wednesday for the third consecutive session, amid the weakness of the dollar and the good spirits of the operators given the record performance of remittances in January, as well as the expectation of new investment flows due to the arrival at the country of projects such as the Tesla plant in Nuevo León.
After noon, the Mexican peso is trading at 18.14 pesos per dollar, however, hours before it had reached a minimum of 18.08 units, according to Bloomberg data
.
The director of Economic Analysis at Grupo Financiero Base, Gabriela Siller, stated that it is estimated that the exchange rate could head towards 17.90 pesos per dollar in the short term.
In addition, she explained that the appreciation of the peso is due to the good performance of exports, the historical level of remittances, foreign direct investment that has arrived in the country, speculation in favor of the currency, and the monetary policy of the Bank of Mexico. .
pic.twitter.com/ysmQ8x231F
— Gabriela Siller Pagaza (@GabySillerP) March 1, 2023
“The Mexican peso continues to be supported by internal factors: the expectation that the Bank of Mexico will continue raising the interest rate to a level of around 11.5%, after giving a surprise increase of 50 basis points;
the growth of exports, which in January advanced at a monthly rate of 6.06%, the publication of positive economic indicators for the United States, which benefits the Mexican economy due to the close economic relationship through exports and the expectation of greater flows of foreign direct investment and exports, after it became known that Tesla will invest in Mexico, "says Siller.
The expert also added that the strength of the Mexican peso is related to a greater appetite for risk in global financial markets with the publication of positive economic indicators in China.
“There is an expectation of an acceleration of the Chinese economy, after the government relaxed the confinement measures at the beginning of the year due to the covid-19 pandemic.
It should be remembered that China is the second largest economy in the world and greater economic growth would raise global demand for raw materials and reduce the risk of recession in other countries ”, she refers.
The Mexican superpeso reached 18.17 units for every US dollar this morning, as stipulated by the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
This is the same trend that it has had during the first two months of the year, with which the Mexican currency accumulates an appreciation of 6% in 2023, and thus reached the best two months since 2012, when it registered an advance of 8%.
Only in February, the Mexican currency closed with an appreciation above 2.7%, registering a minimum of 18.28, a level not seen since April 2018.
The appreciation of the Mexican currency is reached in unison with the announcement of the arrival of Tesla in Mexico.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, will invest 4.5 billion dollars to build a mega-plant capable of building up to one million electric cars per year.
This production center will be located in the municipality of Santa Catarina, in Nuevo León.
Mexico reaches a record in remittances during January
The remittances that entered Mexico in the first month of the year amounted to 4,406 million dollars, which is the highest figure for a January in 29 years.
The receipt of money from abroad to the country was 12.5% higher compared to what was received in January 2022, with which money remittances to Mexican territory amount to 33 consecutive months on the rise, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.
The increase in remittances in January was equivalent to more than 11 million transactions.
The average value of shipments was $374.
During the first month of the year, 99% of the total income from remittances was made through electronic transfers, remittances made in cash and kind and money
orders
represented 0.7% and 0.3% of the total amount.
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