According to the Governor of the Central Bank, Guillermo Ortiz, Mexico is relatively safe from the unfolding financial crisis in the United States. Mexican Secretary Agustin Carstens, in charge of the Department of the Treasury, agrees. Thus, these key actors suggest that the country will not be seriously affected; only exports, tourism, and remittances are likely to experience a downturn.
Mexicans should not worry then. Remittances are only the second largest source of foreign income in Mexico and have only fallen 2.9% since April 2008. In 2005 only 1.7 million Mexicans worked in jobs related to the tourism industry, which in the same year only generated $11.8 billion dollars. The impact of the crisis on the Mexican financial sector will be even smaller.
But economics have a lot to do with expectations. So as along as Mexican officials keep providing positive interpretations of the impact of the US crisis on the Mexican economy, there is no need to worry. The real economy is in good shape they say.
