North America

Petroleos Mexicanos, the world’s most indebted oil company, will get a $3.5 billion cash injection from the government as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador orders a new business plan for the struggling company, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned producer will use the funds to pay down obligations and also embark on a series of bond buybacks and new issuance to reduce the cost to service its debt. As part of the initiative, Pemex will also overhaul its five-year business plan, according to a statement released by the company Monday.

Mexican budget airline Interjet plans to resume flights in 2022 with 10 leased Airbus SE airplanes after shutting down a year ago when its already-suffering finances were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, company representatives said on Friday, Reuters reported. The pandemic's toll on the global tourism industry had exacerbated operational and debt problems at Interjet, putting the company on the brink of bankruptcy.

The main trucking lobbies in Canada and the United States are warning that vaccine and testing requirements for workers will further disrupt supply chains because there is already a dire shortage of drivers, Reuters reported. Canada will require vaccines for truck drivers starting in January, while the Biden administration has issued rules requiring truck drivers at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. More than two-thirds of goods traded between Canada and the United States travels on roads and highways.

The embattled Mexican airline Interjet is planning a return to operations by next year with a new fleet comprised of 10 Airbus SE A320 jets and potentially 10 Czech-made Let L-410 planes, Bloomberg News reported. The plan to fly again depends on the company’s ability to navigate a “distressed investing” strategy that will be separated into three tranches, said insolvency specialist Ivan Romo, who is helping with Interjet’s restructuring. The company is in talks with four firms for close to $750 million in financing, Romo said.

The European Union has experienced a "breakthrough year" with the United States even if not all trade irritants are gone and now wants to work with its transatlantic ally to start forging trade rules for the future, the EU trade chief said, Reuters reported. A year on from Joe Biden's defeat of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, the two sides have suspended their disputes over aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminium tariffs and launched an alliance to cooperate on future technologies. "One can say that this year was indeed a breakthrough year for EU-U.S.

The Bank of Mexico on Wednesday raised its inflation forecast and lowered its growth expectations for this year, saying the balance of risks for inflation had deteriorated and were biased to the upside, Reuters reported. Banxico, as the bank is known, projected gross domestic product growth of 5.4% for 2021, down from a prior view of 6.2%. It forecast 3.2% growth in 2022, up from a previous estimate of 3.0%.

Canadians who have spent less than 72 hours in another country will no longer need a Covid-19 test to return to Canada, making it easier and cheaper for residents near the 5,500-mile border to make quick trips to the U.S. to pick up groceries, fill gas tanks or go holiday shopping, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. businesses along the Canadian border say they are anticipating a boost in cross-border shopping and tourism after nearly 20 months of suffering from Washington’s decision to ban tourists from entering the U.S. via northern land-border crossings.

Grupo Aeroméxico SA B de CV is roiling some of its creditors with a restructuring plan that sets aside an ownership stake for its partner and part-owner Delta Air Lines Inc. while paying a fraction of some of its debts, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported.

Canada’s big banks have weathered the pandemic on the strength of the country’s heated housing market. This week, they’ll get the chance to show whether they also have other avenues for loan growth, Bloomberg News reported. Surging home prices and strong sales have boosted Canadian residential mortgage and home-equity credit balances at the country’s six biggest banks by C$151.2 billion ($118.2 billion) in the past year and a half. That 13% growth outstrips the gain of just 2.8% for all other types of loans from the banks’ domestic divisions since before Covid-19 took hold in North America.

The Bank of Canada is warning a rush of investors into the country’s housing market this year has fueled prices and heightened the risk of a correction, Bloomberg News reported. In a virtual speech on Tuesday to discuss financial stability issues, Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry said that risks around the housing market have intensified following a boom in prices that appear to be driven by speculative activity.