Mexico
Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced new tax benefits for Pemex as the beleaguered state oil company seeks to reverse long-term production declines and reduce debt, Bloomberg News reported. Petroleos Mexicanos will get an additional 14% credit stimulus to apply to the taxes it pays on hydrocarbons capped at 73.3 billion pesos ($3.6 billion) for this year, according to a presidential decree. The new benefit comes in addition to previous measures that reduced Pemex’s profit-sharing duty from 65%, to 58% in 2020 and 54% in 2021, respectively.
Mexican airline Aeromexico, which is undergoing a chapter 11 restructuring process, on Tuesday posted a loss in the fourth quarter of last year, taking yet another hit from the coronavirus pandemic’s drain on global tourism, Reuters reported. The company reported a net loss of 9.72 billion pesos ($487 million) in the October to December period, with passenger capacity down nearly 48% from the same quarter a year earlier. It also reported losses in the first three quarters of 2020, including a slimmer loss of $130 million in the prior period.
Mexico’s second-largest movie theater chain, Grupo Cinemex SA, is closing its cinemas indefinitely and is working with banks to restructure at least $230 million in debt, Bloomberg News reported. Cinemex, owned by the family that controls copper miner Grupo Mexico, is closing in on a deal with banks including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, HSBC Holdings Plc, Banco Santander SA and Bank of Nova Scotia.
Mexico’s central bank unanimously voted to cut its key interest rate to the lowest point since mid-2016, leading economists to forecast more easing ahead as the country desperately needs stimulus, Bloomberg News reported. Banco de Mexico, led by Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon, chopped borrowing costs by a quarter point to 4% on Thursday, after core inflation remained stable in January, despite overall price increases accelerating above expectations. The cut was predicted by 16 of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The remaining six expected a hold.