Mexico's Sovereign Debt Reached $230 Billion in March

Mexico's Finance Ministry reported that the country's foreign debt reached US$230 billion, which represents less than 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) measured at current prices.

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Although no new debt deals have been contracted above the ceiling approved by Congress, financial contracts continued with international organizations and the foreign market in the past two years.

For instance, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) recently signed a US$2.9 billion loan with the World Bank.

Financial analyst Alejandra Marcos believes that the level of foreign debt in AMLO's first 28 months in office compares favorably with the indebtedness recorded during the administrations of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and Felipe Calderon (2006-2018).

"The AMLO administration's real problem is not the debt level, but the profitability of the investments being made," she said. 

If public investments in state-owned company PEMEX, social assistance programs, or infrastructure projects do not contribute to generating greater wealth in the medium and long term, then the debt could represent a problem.

"But for the time being, however, public finances remain healthy," Marcos explained.