Postcard from Mexico: What is causing the 'wait and see' corporate mood?

Mexican President setting tone for country's corporate sector

Omotunde Lawal, head of emerging market corporate debt at Barings, reports back from a recent trip to Mexico, where the team conducted on-the-ground research through meetings with a wide variety of corporate issuers, economists and ratings agencies.

After a week in Mexico with 33 meetings, the one thing that remains crystal clear is that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is the only one calling the shots. With his impressive landslide win in the presidential election last year, and resulting power consolidation, it was difficult for most of the corporates to provide any concrete, forward-looking plans. The mood in corporate Mexico was very much one of "wait and see". All eyes are on the actions of AMLO, most especially his plan for Pemex - the debt-laden state oil company - as this is expected to set the tone f...