The ABM “built bridges with the federal government” to “create a stronger bank”: Daniel Baker

The 85th Banking Convention concluded on Friday amid tones of cordiality between the Association of Banks of Mexico (ABM) and the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, following days marked by controversies with the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) and the crisis of the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

In his closing statements to the press, Daniel Becker, the leader of the ABM, stressed that banks “built bridges with the federal government” to “create stronger banking.”

“With great communication, with good messages, with a responsive president and I am sure that from this we will be able to build a more robust system,” said the representative of the top of the financial sector, which brings together more than 50 banks.

After two years, the Banking Convention returned to Acapulco in person with the expectation of overcoming the pandemic crisis, which caused a historic contraction of 8.2% in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020 and a 4.8% rebound in 2021 in Mexico.

Despite Daniel Baker's message, the conference was marked by the controversy created by López Obrador, who on Thursday broke all precedent by advancing the decision of Banco de México (Banxico) to raise the interest rate by 50 basis points to 6.5%, an exclusive power of the central bank.

Unusually, the president offered an apology to the Governing Board at the convention, an act that Becker now acknowledged.

“It just confirms to us that capable men have the ability to rectify, and rectifying seems to me to be very powerful and speaks highly of the president,” Becker told the media.

The representative of the financial leadership, who canceled the official closing ceremony and only gave a press conference at the beginning, also said he was satisfied with López Obrador's message, although on Thursday he asked him for a more “constructive” dialogue and conditions of “certainty”.

“Positive. The president, I think you saw it, understands banking, knows that it is an important industry, relevant, that we can support economic growth and, as you saw, very positive,” he said this Friday questioned by the press.

He also acknowledged that the president “pledged not to make any reform to the bank”, a promise he “has respected”.

“Yes (this is the signal we were hoping for), I think that as long as banking remains an inclusive bank with a social dimension, we will have the capacity to mobilize and I think that in that sense it has been very satisfactory,” he answered the express question.

In addition to this controversy, the convention took place in the shadow of the crisis resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On the final day of conferences, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Special Envoy for Finance and Climate Mark Carney warned of the effects of the war in Ukraine that will impact Mexico.

“We need to make every effort to force Russia to stop the invasion immediately, and secondly, I think that we, too, must provide humanitarian support for all these refugees and the people of Ukraine whose lives have been affected,” Ban Ki-moon asked.

For his part, Mark Carney pointed out that “the combination of high energy prices, sometimes scarcity, the risk of lack of coal and the long term in terms of climate competitiveness will generate a transition.”

The president of the ABM acknowledged that the war has lowered expectations for growth in Mexico, which is also facing inflation of 7.29% - according to the report by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) released last Thursday - which means its highest level in two decades.

“The truth is that there is an environment of high inflation and a war issue that was not on the radar, we have to follow events and wait, but we do see growth that can be between 2.5% and 3.5%,” Becker said.

Despite the outlook, he highlighted the soundness and optimism of the banking system, considering that in Mexico “conditions are ready to invest.”

“The tension that exists between the United States and Asian countries generates an opportunity to make manufacturing in Mexico, I think that despite being in a very difficult context, Mexico is also in a very privileged position and we hope that we capture the value of those possibilities,” he concluded.

With information from EFE

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