Threat of a downgrade hangs over Mexico
Subject Mexico credit outlook downgrades. Significance On August 23, ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) lowered the sovereign credit outlook of the Mexican government to negative from stable. The same day, the credit outlooks of state-owned enterprises Pemex (oil) and CFE (electricity) were also moved to negative. Moody's modified its outlook on Mexico's debt to negative in March. Impacts A rating downgrade would represent both a financial and a political blow for the government. The 'normalisation' of US monetary policy should moderately increase borrowing costs for emerging sovereigns, including Mexico. In the unlikely case of a global liquidity crunch, Mexico may activate its IMF credit line, borrowing up to 88 billion dollars immediately.