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.

Mexican carrier Aeromexico said yesterday that its creditors have overwhelmingly approved the company's restructuring plan as part of its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Aeromexico said in a statement that the voting ended on 7 Jan. and 86% of the creditors who voted backed the plan. "The conclusion of the voting process and the strong support from the company's creditors represents a key milestone in Aeromexico's restructuring process," the company said. It also puts Aeromexico in a strong position to "obtain Court approval for the plan", the company added.

Mexico’s government said it had slashed Petroleos Mexicanos’ debt burden by $3.2 billion through a refinancing operation, Bloomberg News reported. The government swapped debt that was expiring soon for a new bond with a maturity of 10 years, while also refinancing some medium maturity debt that was cheap, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry. The operation will reduce the “financial pressure” on Pemex by $10.5 billion between 2024 and 2030, the ministry said, adding that the refinancing wouldn’t reduce the fiscal budget.

Mexico central bank board member Jonathan Heath sounded the alarm about accelerating core inflation, saying in a series of tweets that the situation “looks grave” and may signal a structural problem, Bloomberg News reported. Even though annual inflation at the end of 2021 was marginally slower than in November and even slower than analyst forecasts, it isn’t good news because core prices are rising faster, Heath said. The annual core figure stood at 6% in the last half of December. It “signals the persistence of a more inertial or even structural problem,” Heath said in one Twitter post.

Mexico's central bank signaled concern over rising inflation and labor costs as its board voted last month to raise its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.50%, minutes from the latest monetary policy meeting showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. "All members mentioned that headline and core inflation expectations for 2021, 2022 and for the next 12 months increased again, along with medium-term expectations, while long-term expectations have remained stable at levels above the target," the Bank of Mexico said in the latest minutes.

Passenger traffic at Grupo Aeromexico in December reached its highest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican airline said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Aeromexico transported 1.74 million passengers last month, or 98.9% of the 1.76 million people it moved in December 2019, the company said in a statement. Aeromexico's total offer, measured in available seat-kilometers (ASKs), was equivalent to 82.6% of the capacity of December 2019, the company said. Domestic capacity was up 13.6% from December 2019, while international capacity was 70.7% of that month.

Mexico's annual auto sales rose by 6.8% in 2021, but were still far short of pre-pandemic levels as the car industry struggles to cope with shortfalls in semiconductors, official data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Mexico sold 1,014,680 light vehicles last year, according to figures from the national statistics agency (INEGI) after sales fell 27.9% to 950,063 in 2020, a nine-year low. There were 1.3 million vehicles sold in 2019 before the pandemic while 2016 saw a record 1.6 million sales.