| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2009 
Government Unveils Rescue Plan
 Bloomberg News/The News
go to original
 |  | Two funds will be established through public development lender Nacional Financiera, or Nafinsa, aimed at providing 2 billion pesos of working capital to tourism providers and 3 billion pesos of capital to the domestic airline industry. |  | | |
The government is initiating a program to offer 11 billion pesos ($840 million) in financing to small and mid-size businesses hurt by the country's outbreak of swine flu, Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens said.
The program, the biggest emergency financing this decade, will target businesses in the tourism, airline and pork industries, Carstens said Monday in a news conference in Mexico City. He reiterated that the flu outbreak may shave 0.3 percent off Mexico's gross domestic product this year.
"In most cases, the loans won't require real collateral and a grace period will be granted in light of the difficult times we've been through and the expectation of a quick recovery," Carstens said.
Approximately 5 billion pesos in government aid will be destined for the floundering tourism industry in the wake of the flu crisis, the Tourism Secretariat announced Monday.
Two funds will be established through public development lender Nacional Financiera, or Nafinsa, aimed at providing 2 billion pesos of working capital to tourism providers and 3 billion pesos of capital to the domestic airline industry.
The Tourism Secretariat, or Sectur, will create a 1.2-billion peso fund for publicity here and abroad to revitalize the image of Mexico as a destination. Cancún and the Riviera Maya, two of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations, have seen occupation rates plummet to less than half of expected seasonal levels, according to Sectur statistics.
Losses in the tourism sector could conceivably exceed $4 billion and cost over 200,000 jobs, Elizondo said. "We hope that without further negative effects, flu or otherwise, that the sector can rebound to about 80 percent capacity by December," Elizondo said.
At least 11 banks will provide credits to the companies with the support of national development banks, said Héctor Rangel Domene, general director of Nafinsa and Bancomext, two government-sponsored institutions that will guarantee most of the loans made by the banks.
The loans will carry a fixed annual rate of 12 percent, Rangel Domene said, and banks will start taking applications on May 15.
Companies eligible for the financing program will have three months to begin repayment, said Rangel Domene. Development banks will also make available 4 billion pesos to restructure current loans, he said.
The new financing program "could benefit about 12,000 micro-companies and almost 5,000 small and medium-size businesses," said Ignacio Deschamps González, president of the Mexican Banking Association.
Mexico has confirmed a total of 2,059 cases of swine flu, including 56 deaths, the country's Health Secretary José Angel Córdova said Monday. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us