Mexico keeps IMF credit line, to maintain access to around $47 billion

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that Mexico still meets the eligibility criteria for a flexible credit line, the country’s central bank said on Thursday.

Mexico’s Foreign Exchange Commission decided to maintain access equivalent to around $47 billion, approved in 2021, the central bank’s statement said.

The credit line has been shrinking over the years. Central bank records show that the IMF gave the green light for about $61 billion in 2019 and $88 billion in 2017.

“The Mexican economy remains exposed to external risks,” the IMF said in a separate statement. “The global surge in inflation has touched off a round of monetary tightening and rising global risk aversion and threatened growth,” it added.

Mexico has never used the flexible credit line with the IMF, which is seen as an additional shield for the region’s second-largest economy in the face of volatility in global markets.

(Reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; Editing by Mark Porter)