BdeM autonomy not at risk with change of government: Heath

Mexico City. The autonomy of the Bank of Mexico (BdeM) is not at risk with the arrival of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to the presidency of the Republic, assured Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath Constable.

“I don’t think that with this change in administration there will be a change in perception of the work that the bank has done,” said the economist while participating in a forum organized by the Mexican Institute of Financial Executives (IMEF).

Heath Constable said the institution’s autonomy was well protected and insulated from many pressures, as the federal administration had understood the role it played.

“The government itself realized the importance of maintaining autonomy and that there are many more benefits than if they tried to change it or modify it, etc.,” he said.

He commented that when the central bank lacked autonomy, inflationary outbreaks reached triple digits.

“In another era, if inflation had dropped to 8.7 percent, we would be celebrating. The size of the problem has changed radically,” he said.

Heath Constable commented that the institution is not losing credibility, as it is one of the most solid that exist in the country.

“There is no one that can boast of its solidity, its history, its trajectory, its human capital. We have the best economists and financiers in the country and I believe that it is an extremely solid institution of which we can be extremely proud, especially this year when we celebrate 30 years of autonomy and next year when we will celebrate 100 years of the existence of the central bank,” he said.

The deputy governor commented that factors such as insecurity in the country and natural events such as drought are more structural effects that put pressure on prices.

“We are seeing these types of climatological issues, more droughts, more floods, in crescendo, that is, we are seeing more and more of them,”

“This problem of extortion has also been growing, the security problem has also been growing,” he said.

He considered that for this reason there will be an effect on prices, which will happen more and more frequently. “We could already talk about more structural effects and not just temporary ones, when we have problems of lack of security and extortion and everything that has to be combated,” he said.