The Mexican peso rallied on Friday to its strongest level since the day following the U.S. presidential election after U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said that a sensible trade deal with Mexico will help its battered currency.
The peso strengthened more than 2.3 percent to 19.5200 per dollar, its best showing since Nov. 9 after Donald Trump’s surprise election win. Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada and slap a hefty tax on imports to the United States from Mexico to pay for a border wall.
PHOTO: radiozocalo.com
Speaking on CNBC, Ross also said NAFTA fears had pummeled the peso, which weakened nearly 17 percent after the U.S. election to a historic low on Jan. 11.
Mexico’s central bank, which has hiked interest rates by 325 basis points since last year, recently announced plans to offer up to $20 billion USD in currency hedges to shore up the peso. The first auction of up to $1 billion is slated for March 6.
Source: nasdaq.com via Reuters
