It was just last November 24 when President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lowered his former Treasury Secretary, Arturo Herrera, from his horse in the middle of the river to present Victoria Rodríguez Ceja to the financial world as his nominee to be governor of the Banco de Mexico.
Its legislative approval was a mere formality, because López Obrador had already given the order. But what has raised doubts since then is whether the governor of the Bank of Mexico will be like that Legislative Power, like those deputies and senators from three political parties, who only follow the President’s orders without saying a word.
His resume and the good references of characters outside the 4T gave the approval to the newly elected governor of Banxico.
But that appearance in the morning of December 30 last, a few hours before taking office as the head of the autonomous Mexican central bank, sowed doubts and fears.
And it’s not that there, on that platform of morning propaganda, he said something out of place. No, on the contrary, he spoke of controlling inflation and complying with the mandate of the Bank of Mexico.
But always that figure of a President standing behind the one to whom he lends the platform, with that look of control over his subordinates, was not a good sign of independence, less than a few hours before taking office.
Since then we have known little publicly about the governor of the Bank of Mexico, a couple of references that involve her. One very good and one not so good.
Fantastic news that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) chose Victoria Rodríguez Ceja as one of the only two women who make up its Administrative Council.
Beyond the recognition that this implied for him personally, this designation from the BIS was a very timely institutional accolade for Banco de México.
The other fact, not so good, that indirectly involved the new governor occurred two weeks ago when the Bank of Mexico abstained from voting on the modifications to the General Statute of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching, CIDE.
As a member of the General Assembly of Associates, as the founder of an academic institution with an enormous tradition of academic autonomy and with the crushing ideological boot of Conacyt on the neck of CIDE, it was to be expected that the Bank of Mexico would do the same thing that they did. the Ministry of Economy and the Colegio de México to oppose the intellectual betrayal of the change of statutes. But no, the Banxico of Victoria Rodríguez Ceja did not get into trouble with López Obrador and abstained.
Tomorrow is an important day for the Bank of Mexico’s Governing Board because it must show that it is not interrupting its work of putting a dam on high inflation.
It will be, therefore, the premiere in the decision-making of Governor Rodríguez. It could be an easy premiere because 40 days ago President López Obrador let him know, there in the morning gallery, that he does not like inflation because it affects the most humble people.
In addition to the vote, the market will be attentive to the signs of autonomy that the new administration of the central bank may give.
Televisa News Anchor
The great Depression
Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, with a specialty in finance from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico and a master’s degree in Journalism from the Anahuac University.
His professional career has been dedicated to different media. He is currently a columnist for the newspaper El Economista and news anchor on Televisa. He is the owner of the 2 pm news space on Foro TV.
He is a specialist in economic-financial issues with more than 25 years of experience as a commentator and host on radio and television. He has been part of companies such as Radio Programas de México, where he participated in VIP business radio. He was also part of the management and talent team of Radio Formula.