Finance Minister: Mexico pumps "decisive" funds into SMEs

The Mexican government is fighting the global financial crisis by pumping funds into small and medium-sized business (SMEs) via state-run lender Nacional Financiera (NaFin), Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said Friday.

In the first eight months, loans for SMEs from private banks fell by 8 percent in real terms, while loans from NaFin rose by 24percent, Carstens said at a public event in the capital of Mexico City.

NaFin "has played a decisive role in stabilizing the private debt market for companies and non-bank financial intermediaries," he said.

"It also allowed the companies most affected by the flu epidemic to count on some liquidity," the minister added.

The tourism industry, second largest source of foreign-exchange earnings in Mexico, was badly hit by the outbreak of the A/H1N1 influenza in the first half of this year.

"Nacional Financiera, with its sound finances, has become one of the most important catalysts for the nation's development," Carstens said.

Source: Xinhua