Carstens Postpones Departure From Bank of Mexico Until November
February 20 2017 - 5:42PM
Dow Jones News
By Juan Montes
MEXICO CITY -- Bank of Mexico Gov. Agustín Carstens will stay at
his position until the end of November, five months more than
initially expected, as the country goes through a difficult
economic patch of quickly rising inflation, currency volatility and
low growth.
Mr. Carstens reconsidered his decision to step down from the
Bank of Mexico in July and agreed with President Enrique Peña Nieto
to stay longer at the helm of the central bank, a top official at
the central bank who spoke on condition of anonymity said
Monday.
The Bank of Mexico announced in December that Mr. Carstens, 58
years old, would step down in July to become general manager of the
Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements.
Since then, Mexico's economic outlook has quickly worsened.
Inflation rose in January to 4.72% -- the highest since 2012 --
after a steep jump in gasoline prices at the beginning of the year,
while most economists expect the economy to slow down to 1.6%
growth this year. The peso hit in January a record low against the
U.S. dollar.
Mr. Peña Nieto's government had wanted Mr. Carstens to stay at
the bank to help Mexico's economy navigate what is likely to be a
complicated renegotiation of the North American Free Trade
Agreement with the administration of U.S. President Donald
Trump.
Mr. Carstens is Mexico's most respected economic official at the
international financial stage, having previously served as deputy
director of the International Monetary Fund.
Write to Juan Montes at juan.montes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 20, 2017 17:27 ET (22:27 GMT)
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