Relief

President Felipe Calderón last night announced an emergency program to alleviate the negative effects of the financial crisis. Perhaps most notably, the government injected $2.5 billion into the economy to steady the peso, which had lost around 40 percent of its value in past weeks, after several years of impressive stability. The Mexican currency jumped from 14 to the dollar to 12.25 as a result. Projected spending for 2009 was cut by about $27 billion. Spending was also shifted into public projects (infrastructure and a refinery) as a way to stimulate the job market. In addition, tariff barriers were lowered and a new subsidy for small and medium businesses was announced. It seems like other than the spending cut and the infusion of dollars, these aren’t really crisis-specific measures, but programs that could have (should have?) been implemented years ago. Macario Schettino says it’s a sensible plan, but it will only soften rather than avoid the blow.