Mexico raised its key interest rate by a half-percentage point for a second consecutive meeting as policy makers look past an economy in recession to address inflation near a two-decade high, Bloomberg News reported. In the first monetary policy meeting led by new Governor Victoria Rodriguez Ceja, the central bank raised the benchmark rate by a half point to 6% on Thursday. The increase matched the forecasts of 19 of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, with three analysts anticipating a quarter-point hike.

Over the past decade, Credito Real SAB was the rising star of a booming new business in Mexico: cutting small loans -- and charging double-digit interest rates -- to the millions of traditionally unbanked all across the country. Now, with its cash hoard shrinking, Credito Real faces a moment of truth, Bloomberg News reported. It either pays off 170 million Swiss francs ($184 million) of bonds due by the end of Wednesday, or goes the way of a smaller peer in the non-bank lending industry that has already fallen into default.

Bond investors are bracing for a potential default by Mexico’s largest payroll lender, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bonds for Credito Real SA B de CV lost almost half their value in recent days over uncertainty about its ability to repay a 170 million Swiss franc bond, equivalent to $184 million, that falls due on Feb. 9. If the company misses the payment it would mark a victory for hedge-fund managers who questioned its accounting practices last year and bet bonds and share prices would drop.

Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier said on Monday the country's economy was likely to grow about 2.5% this year after being hit by the Omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic, in a blow to President Andres Manuel Lopez, Reuters reported. Mexico's economy contracted for a second straight quarter in the last three-month period of 2021, putting it in a technical recession and confirming growth had lost momentum. Overall the economy expanded 5.0% for full-year 2021 after shrinking 8.5% in 2020 in Mexico's worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Aeromexico on Friday won court approval of its restructuring plan after the airline struck a deal with the remaining holdouts among its creditors, clearing the way for it to emerge from bankruptcy with new controlling shareholders, Reuters reported. "I could not be more pleased to tell you the plan of reorganization is confirmed," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman said soon after the agreement to pay a settlement to the creditors was announced during a court hearing.

Mexican consumer lender Credito Real S.A. B. de C.V. is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to arrange rescue financing to pay down a 170 million Swiss franc ($180 million) bond coming due next month, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Credito Real, which ranks as Mexico’s largest nonbank lender, has asked Goldman Sachs to seek potential sources of new financing secured by the company’s assets to cover the coming maturity and avoid default, the people said.

Mexico's Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio said on Friday that talk of a "technical recession" in the country doesn't take into account coronavirus-related economic volatility and global supply chain issues, Reuters reported. Mexico's economy, the second-largest in Latin America, likely shrank 0.2% in December compared with the same month a year earlier, a preliminary official estimate showed last week, stirring concerns the country may have slipped into a recession in the second half of 2021.

Grupo Aeromexico SAB cut a last minute deal with the main group of its unsecured creditors, easing the way for the airline to seek final approval to exit bankruptcy from a judge in New York, Bloomberg News reported. The official committee of unsecured creditors in the company’s Chapter 11 case agreed to join more senior debt holders who back the plan, including Apollo Global Management Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. In return, unsecured creditors will get a note for $40 million, contingent on future performance.

Mexican carrier Aeromexico said on Monday that its shareholders have approved a capital increase as part of its restructuring plan to emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters reported. In two meetings held on Friday, shareholders agreed to hike the share capital by $4.267 billion, which is subject to a third party making a public tender offer of its current shares. The increase will come from the issuance of some 682 trillion common shares, which will be paid for through a $3.44 billion debt capitalization and an $828 million injection. Aeromexico's biggest creditor in its U.S.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday he would welcome Mexican investors bidding in the sale of U.S. bank Citigroup's consumer banking operations in Mexico, making a pitch for the assets to become Mexican again, Reuters reported. "We can turn it into something very good, if, without authoritarian measures, it's possible to Mexicanize this bank," Lopez Obrador said in a video address from his office, where he is recovering from a COVID-19 infection. Lopez Obrador welcomed the fact Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas had shown interest in the assets.