President Enrique Peña Nieto has appointed Alejandro Díaz de León as Banxico’s new Governor, replacing Agustin Carstens at Mexico’s central bank.
Díaz de León brings some 16 years’ experience at Banxico, where he is presently its Deputy Governor. He takes over from Carstens on December 1 and assumes responsibilities through December 2021.
According to economics consultancy firm Capital Economics, Díaz de León is a “continuity appointment” from Carstens and is unlikely to implement significant changes on either financial markets or the immediate direction of monetary policy.
“Prudent monetary policy – with an emphasis on anchoring inflation expectations around the central bank’s target – will remain the name of the game”, according to Capital Economics. The consultancy firm believes Díaz de León’s two main challenges as governor will come from the NAFTA renegotiations and navigating next year’s general elections.
In addition to the central bank, Díaz de León has also been CEO at Mexico’s export credit agency Bancomext and was previously the country’s head of public credit.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Antonio Meade resigned from his position, a move widely interpreted as his intention to run for president under Peña Nieto’s PRI party.
As for Carstens, he announced late last year his intention to leave Banxico for the Bank of International Settlements. Initially, the governor was expected to start the Switzerland-based role in October this year, but President Peña Nieto asked Carstens to stay on as governor until the end of November.