Between 19 and 26 of this month the peso depreciated 4.6% against the dollar with which most of the imports to our country are paid, including 70% of the yellow corn that we eat and 70% of the gasoline that we burn. So far this year our currency has depreciated 9.9% against the US currency, going from 19.8598 on January 1 to 21.8335 last Friday.
The foregoing is the result of the unclear economic policies of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of its actions against the private sector and national and foreign investors, of its intention to renationalise the energy sector, of its decision to face to the Bank of Mexico to Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, an economist who lacks the necessary experience to be its governor.
As a result of the words and actions of the president and despite the interest increases decreed by the Bank of Mexico, until last November 10, 265.025 million pesos had left the country in search of more friendly destinations for those who invest their money in the capital markets. To this impressive amount we must add the 257,213 million that left last year.
Nor did it help the weight that US President Joe Biden announced that he will ratify Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve, causing most financial analysts to forecast that the Fed will raise interest rates in June or July. next year, as Powell has come out in favor of it.
And less helped our currency the fact that on Thursday the South African Minister of Health announced that in his country a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was discovered, called Ómicron by the World Health Organization, which presents more of 30 mutations in its peak protein, which makes it more contagious than the Delta variant, without it being known until now if it is more deadly or susceptible to be controlled by existing anti-Covid vaccines.
Until yesterday it had been detected in Germany, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and South Africa. According to the real experts, it is likely that it has already reached the US and Mexico.
The announcement of the appearance of the new variant and the possibility that it would cause new closures of activities in various cities and countries, caused the main stock exchanges of the world to collapse on Friday. They lost 2.53% the DJI; 2.23% the NASDAQ; 3.64% the FTSE 100; 4.15% the DAX; 4.96% the IBEX 35. In Mexico the CPI fell 2.24%.
The Omicron fear prompted the US and several European countries to reimpose new restrictions on those flying from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The appearance of the new coronavirus that worries the rulers of several countries so much and threatens to deal another blow to the world economy does not seem to matter to Andrés Manuel, who has called on his followers to come to the CDMX Zócalo on Wednesday to celebrate with him his third year in government, a massive meeting that could generate a new Covid-19 outbreak and more deaths.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx