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He went on to say that the Mexican economy, which had been expected to recover in 2020 after a slight recession last year, was now fac- ing major challenges. Mexico is in a difficult position, along with many other countries, he remarked.
“The whole outlook has changed,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
“We’re going to have to re-evaluate our projections considering everything that is happening ... [The] parameters have changed completely,” he added.
The Mexican government is due to publish a new version of its national economic forecast on April 1.
Herrera further stated last week that Mexico intended to invite privately owned companies to invest in oil and gas projects. He explained that the government would soon unveil its much-anticipated energy plan, which will detail how much and where private firms will be able
to invest.
“It’s not just a general outline,” Reuters
quoted him as saying. “We’re going to tell them this project here, here and here, this amount and size is open to investment.”
Earlier this month, the government said that the new national energy plan would encompass a total of 275 projects slated for implementation between this year and 2024. The list is antic- ipated to cover power generation, storage and transportation, as well as natural gas exploration and production.
Reuters said last week that Mexico’s govern- ment had recently been discussed its new energy plan with several international companies, including Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands), France’s Engie and Italy’s Enel. It also noted that Veracruz, Oaxaca and Yucatan, all traditionally poor states in Mexico’s southern and eastern regions, were likely to benefit the most from the energy investment programme.
IMF, Ecuador discuss oil market’s fall
ECUADOR
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been in talks with Ecuador to try to help the Latin American country navigate the significant drop in oil prices caused by the global coronavi- rus (COVID-19) outbreak.
A spokesman for the fund said last week that Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, had discussed the slide in prices with Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno.
During the meeting, Georgieva pledged to support Moreno through the challenges that the pandemic will pose, he said, according to a Reuters report.
“The managing director recognised the implications for Ecuador of the recent sharp fall in oil prices and the effects of coronavirus, and
indicated that we will continue to work closely with the [Ecuadorean] authorities to help them navigate this challenging evolving economic environment,” he said.
The spokesman also stressed that the IMF viewed Ecuador’s recent economic policy initi- atives as positive steps. He pointed to measures recently unveiled by President Moreno, such as a $1.2bn budget cut and a 0.75% hike in corporate tax rates.
The government of Ecuador depends heavily on oil revenues, as crude is the country’s biggest export. It is therefore vulnerable to fluctuations on the oil market, which has remained weak since the collapse of the OPEC-plus production agreement on March 6.
Venezuela has seen gas flaring increase since 2010 (Photo: World Bank)
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