Financial managers review market and economic conditions during a forum organized by Latin Trade in Monterrey
Mexico is the Latin American country that’s best prepared to surmount the economic difficulties of today, which are expected to worsen over the next few months.
This is the view of Carlos Capistrán, Chief Economist for Mexico at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who shared his economic and market thoughts for 2015 with a select group of financial directors participating in the CFO Monterrey Forum, organized by Latin Trade Group in this Mexican city.
Capistrán admitted that the economic ups and downs taking place all over the world will bring huge challenges to emerging countries. Mexico, he said, has a good chance to escape these effects because it has resources like its various free trade agreements, as well as a national debt that’s mainly denominated in pesos, which enables it to avoid the impact that would be caused by the currency’s decline relative to the dollar.
“I see the debt profile as being better today, but in addition, if Mexico had to pay all that it owes today, it would have the reserves to do it,” he said. He also highlighted the advantages of the new structural reforms in finance and energy.
Philippe Schrader, an collaborating editor with Latin Trade Group, introduced Cheryl McDowell, Vice-President of Finance and Business Operations for Latin America at Oracle Corporation. She explained the crucial role of the Shared Service Centers as engines of productivity.
The audience shared its experiences of using these business units to optimize human and economic resources.
Lastly, the event recognized Raúl Cavazos Morales, Corporate Director of Finance and Strategic Planning at Gruma, as CFO of the Year, as a result of his outstanding role in financial efficiency that he has shown the multinational over the last two and a half years.