(Bloomberg) — President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the second-highest-ranking and longest-serving official at Mexico’s finance ministry is planning to resign. The surprise development comes amid a transition of power in which officials have emphasized continuity for investors. .
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg
“He wants to take on an international role,” Sheinbaum said in a video posted on his X account by state radio SPR Informa, referring to Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio’s resignation. The president-elect did not provide further details, but said he would announce more about the team.
Yorio’s plans to step down after nearly six years as a senior Treasury official under President Andres Manuel López Obrador were first reported by Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the plan. Don’t talk about it before it’s published.
The Mexican peso weakened on the news, losing 0.6% against the US dollar before cutting losses. The country’s five-year credit default swaps rose. This year, the peso has been the second-worst performer among a basket of emerging market currencies tracked by Bloomberg, falling 14%.
Yorio has been the main interlocutor with Wall Street investors and banks since the beginning of the administration, when he ran a debt office. He was a figure of stability, especially during López Obrador’s first three years in office, when he successively served as three different finance ministers.
“The market is taking a negative view of Yorio because he was a spokesperson in front of financial markets and investors,” said Marco Oviedo, a strategist at XP Investments. “It is unclear who will replace him given the upcoming financial difficulties.”
News of Yorio’s resignation comes just two weeks after Sheinbaum said “nearly the entire top team” at Treasury would remain when he takes office on October 1. He will serve to demonstrate to investors that the country remains under stable fiscal management, pointing to current Finance Minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O’s commitment to remain.
Investors speculated earlier this year that Yorio could take on key positions in the new government, including running state oil company Pemex. Many considered him one of the most investor-friendly officials in a government that has repeatedly spooked markets with clashes with Mexico’s most prominent billionaires and businesses.
the story continues
Mr. Yorio, a former World Bank official, led Mexico’s design and issuance of sustainable bonds and helped pass a market reform bill aimed at encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to list their bonds and stocks.
Ministry transfer
Yorio’s resignation ends a series of intrigues at the Treasury under López Obrador (AMLO), widely known as a popular president.
AMLO’s first finance minister, Carlos Urzua, resigned after only six months in office after repeated disagreements with the president over personnel and policies. Mr. Urzua has become a critic of the administration, publicly supporting Mr. Sheinbaum’s opponent and joining his opponent’s camp last year.
AMLO announced that Arturo Herrera, who was initially Ursua’s deputy and then his successor, will serve for two years and take over the central bank in 2021. But a few months later, AMLO appointed financial bureaucrat Victoria Rodríguez to head the Bank of Mexico, a surprising decision. That caused the peso to plummet.
–With assistance from Vinicius Andrade.
(Updates with comments from Sheinbaum in first and second paragraphs.)
Most Read Articles on Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg LP
