Mexico Launches MXP270bn Infrastructure Fund

Mexico has launched a MXP270bn National Infrastructure Fund to consolidate different initiatives within the government to promote infrastructure investment. It will start with MXP40bn and channel approximately MXP270bn into infrastructure projects over the next five years, according to the finance ministry. It will invest through guarantees, subordinated debt, risk capital and other vehicles that support loss-making projects. “The idea is to have a single platform from which we can execute the agenda established in the national infrastructure plan,” Mexico’s public credit head Gerardo Rodriguez tells LatinFinance. “The fund will operate in principle with the resources from the FARAC packages and later may incorporate some other resources,” he adds, referring to the toll road packages that are being sold off. Besides health, education and public services, Mexico is looking to use the fund to renovate roads, ports and airports, as well as energy and hydro-power infrastructure. It also wants the fund to function as a center of excellence for evaluating projects to assess their order of priority. Overall, Mexico sees infrastructure investment as part of a counter-cyclical economic policy and an important measure to counter the negative impact of a US slowdown this year.