LatinNews Daily - 7 January 2025

*Mexico’s finance ministry (SHCP) has announced that it has placed bonds worth US$8.5bn on the international market. The placement consists of one bond worth US$2bn with a coupon rate of 6% due to mature in five years; one worth US$4bn with a coupon rate of 6.875% due to mature in 12 years; and one worth US$2.5bn with a coupon rate of 7.375% due to mature in 30 years. The placement is the first of the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum on international financial capital markets. The SHCP noted that, with a demand of almost US$33bn, the placement represents the transaction with the highest demand in the history of the federal government, surpassing that of 2024, “which demonstrates the confidence global investors have in the beginning of the current administration” which took office in October 2024. The SHCP also noted that the operation covered a large part of the foreign currency financing needs for 2025. The bond placement comes as Sheinbaum is this year seeking to greatly reduce the fiscal deficit while also maintaining large cash injections for the state-run oil company, Pemex, and the legacy infrastructure projects of her predecessor, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024).