MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s peso weakened almost 23% this yr to shut the ultimate day of buying and selling at 20.82 pesos per U.S. greenback on Tuesday, the forex’s deepest drop towards the buck because the 2008 international monetary disaster.
The peso’s unstable yr kicked off with months of regular features till the times following June’s common election, which swept the leftist coalition led by the ruling Morena occasion to a powerful victory within the presidential race in addition to giant congressional majorities.
Forward of the election, the Mexican forex traded in April at about 16.26 pesos per greenback to achieve a nine-year excessive.
The election win for Morena paved the way in which for passage of constitutional reforms in September, together with a serious overhaul of the judiciary that critics argue will undermine the independence of the courts in Latin America’s second-biggest economic system.
The election of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in November exacerbated the peso’s rocky journey, amid his contemporary tariff threats towards Mexico, which sends round 80% of its exports to its northern neighbor.
Mexico’s essential inventory index additionally shed worth throughout the yr, dipping almost 14% to shut on Tuesday at 49,513 factors, its steepest fall since 2018.