LatinNews Daily - 3 November 2023

* Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) has called on financial institutions to take temporary measures to ease economic pressure on those affected by Hurricane Otis, which made landfall on the Pacific coastline of Guerrero state on 25 October. In a statement, Banxico called on institutions to temporarily suspend minimum credit card payments for borrowers in the 47 municipalities designated by the government as being in the ‘natural disaster zone’ of the hurricane. It said this agreement would allow institutions to offer support schemes in order to give their affected customers the opportunity to temporarily defer payment of their credit card bills. This programme will be in place until 30 April 2024. Banxico urged institutions to be transparent about any support schemes they offer, including how debts will be collected after any non-compliance with minimum payments, and not to charge default interest or commissions for non-compliance with minimum payments.