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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Mexico’s Peso Leads Weekly Gains in Latin America on Energy Bill

Mexico’s peso advanced, heading for the biggest weekly gain in Latin America, as lawmakers from the country’s two largest political parties signaled they are almost finished drafting a bill to overhaul the energy industry.

The currency gained 1.3 percent this week to 12.9462 per dollar as of 10:06 a.m. in Mexico City and climbed 1.1 percent today.The advance cut the peso’s loss this year to 0.7 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The peso is rising the most among the six major dollar counterparts in Latin America this week as senators from Mexico’s ruling and biggest opposition party signaled they’re confident they will be able reach an agreement to pass a bill to break the country’s 75-year-old oil monopoly.

The currency extended gains today as signs of recovery in the U.S. boosted the outlook for Mexico’s top export market.

“The peso is still pretty sensitive to what’s happening with U.S. Treasuries and risk aversion in general, but it’s clear that this week we’re seeing a decoupling” because of the energy bill, Juan Carlos Alderete, a currency strategist at Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB, said by phone from Mexico City.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has called the energy industry overhaul the cornerstone of his administration.

The government has said it would lift annual gross domestic product growth 1 percentage point by 2018, helping fuel a recovery in an economy that it forecasts will expand 1.3 percent this year.

While Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party and the opposition’s National Action Party have delayed the release of a joint draft bill, senators from both sides have said they’re confident an agreement will be reached.

Mexico’s policy makers left the country’s benchmark rate unchanged today at a record low 3.5 percent, matching the forecast of all 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Yields on benchmark peso bonds maturing in 2024 fell five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 6.34 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, trimming the increase this week to 14 basis points.

bloomberg.com

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