/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRLA

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRLA_Public/211224.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R L A T I N A M E R I C A Friday, December 24, 2021, Vol. 22, No. 251 Headlines B R A Z I L BRAZIL: ANAC Approves Draft Notices for Auctions of 16 Airports D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I C DOMINICAN NAT'L BREWERY: Anticipates Unavailability of Products DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Commerce Returns to Freeze Fuel Prices J A M A I C A JAMAICA: Inflation as at November was 7.8% JAMAICA: To Boost Growth for MSMEs with $8.7M IDB Loan LIMETREE BAY: Bankruptcy Judge Approves $62M Sale to Jamaican Firm M E X I C O GRUPO AEROMEXICO: Creditor Opposes Bankruptcy Restructuring Plan P E R U PERU: Economy Grew 4.55% in October, Says Statistics Agency X X X X X X X X GRUPO AEROMEXICO: Offer To Value Shares At Fraction Of Value LATAM: IDB Closes Year with Nearly $20 Billion in New Financing MEXICO: Banxico Uncommitted to More Half-Point Hikes, Gov Says - - - - - =========== B R A Z I L =========== BRAZIL: ANAC Approves Draft Notices for Auctions of 16 Airports --------------------------------------------------------------- Rio Times Online reports that the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) approved, December 21, the drafts of the public notice and concession contracts for 16 airports for private initiative. The documents will be analyzed by the Federal Audit Court (TCU), according to Rio Times Online. The 7th round of airport concessions auction is scheduled for the first half of next year if the TCU approves the calls for tender and contracts, the report notes. The concessions will cover 39.2 million arrivals and departures in Brazil, equivalent to 26% of the passenger volume recorded in 2019, and should yield R$8.6 billion (US$1.5 billion) in private investments over the next 30 years, the report relays. About Brazil Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and third largest in the Americas. Jair Bolsonaro is the current president, having been sworn in on Jan. 1, 2019. Standard & Poor's credit rating for Brazil stands at BB- with stable outlook (April 2020). S&P's 'BB-/B' long-and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Brazil were affirmed in December 2021 with stable outlook. Fitch Ratings' credit rating for Brazil stands at 'BB-' with a negative outlook (November 2020). Fitch's 'BB-' Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) has been affirmed in May 2021. Moody's credit rating for Brazil was last set at Ba2 with stable outlook (April 2018). DBRS's credit rating for Brazil is BB (low) with stable outlook (March 2018). =================================== D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I C =================================== DOMINICAN NAT'L BREWERY: Anticipates Unavailability of Products --------------------------------------------------------------- Dominican Today reports that the Dominican National Brewery anticipates consumers that could experience the unavailability of their products on the December holiday due to the lack of containers and invite them to return the bottles to make up for the lack of these containers. "Once again, we appeal to the understanding of our clients and consumers and we invite them to also be part of the solution through the return of packaging, according to Dominican Today. The culture of returnability will only be possible together with our strategic partners and our consumers," said Cándida Hernández, vice president of Marketing and Brewery Strategy, in a press release, the report notes. The company emphasizes that the global logistics crisis remains latent, the report relays. Proof of this is that-to date-Cervecería has only received 57% of the bottles ordered abroad by 2021 (2% more compared to the last report issued in October), something that still prevents meeting the current demand and the one expected for the end of the year holidays, the report says. "But this situation not only impacts Cervecería or Presidente beer. It also affects other products in the beverage sector and other industries with high demand for products in December, such as toys and certain seasonal foods, impacted by the problems it presents. the global supply chain and the limitations of shipping," the company highlights, the report notes. Efforts to Overcome Shortages The company projects that the revival of the local glass industry is close to becoming a reality, the report says. It informs that the agreement signed between Cervecería Nacional Dominicana and Caribbean Glass Industry "begins to bear its first fruits," the report discloses "The first sample bottles have already been produced, good news as a result of months of constant work between the two companies," he says. "These containers, today with a transparent presentation, because they are first samples, currently go through a testing process in the Brewery production line to validate compliance with all the required technical specifications, a stage that could last a few weeks and that, at the same time it is necessary to guarantee the proper operation of the furnace for the next few years," says the note sent to the press, the report relays. "Challenging weeks still await us. Our consumer could experience unavailability situations due to the lack of packaging on the December holiday. For this reason, these steps that we are taking are of the utmost importance to gradually increase production," Hernandez said, the report says. The Brewery reiterates that it continues to make all efforts to increase the availability of containers. He points out that the first samples produced by the Caribbean Glass Industry, the increase in payment for the repurchase of empty bottles, and the "Again a cold" campaign, which encourages consumers and businesses to promote the return of packaging, are some of the efforts, the report adds. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Commerce Returns to Freeze Fuel Prices ---------------------------------------------------------- Dominican Today reports that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Mipymes (MICM) once again froze the prices of all fuels for the week of 18 to 25 December. As of this Dec. 18, premium gasoline will continue to be sold at RD$270.10 a gallon and regular at RD$255.50 a gallon, according to Dominican Today. Optimum diesel will be sold at RD$219.10. At the same time, regular diesel will be sold at RD$201.10 and Liquefied Petroleum Gas at RD$141.10, the report notes. Likewise, natural gas is sold at (RD$28.97), avtur at (RD$180.68), kerosene at (RD$209.80), fuel oil at (RD$153.64), and fuel oil at 1% (RD$172.01), the report adds. About Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. Capital city Santo Domingo has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de America dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district. Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona is the current president of the nation. As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on Dec. 10, 2021, Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Dominican Republic's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDRs at 'BB-' TCRLA reported in April 2019 that the Dominican Today related that Juan Del Rosario of the UASD Economic Faculty cited a current economic slowdown for the Dominican Republic and cautioned that if the trend continues, growth would reach only 4% by 2023. Mr. Del Rosario said that if that happens, "we'll face difficulties in meeting international commitments." An ongoing concern in the Dominican Republic is the inability of participants in the electricity sector to establish financial viability for the system. Fitch Ratings on Jan. 18, 2021, assigned a 'BB-' rating to Dominican Republic's USD1.5 billion 5.3% notes due Jan. 21, 2041. Concurrently, the Dominican Republic reopened its 2030 4.5% notes for an additional USD1.0 billion, which Fitch rates 'BB-', raising the total outstanding amount of the 2030 notes to USD2.0 billion. Standard & Poor's, on December 4, 2020, affirmed its 'BB-' long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Dominican Republic. The outlook remains negative. S&P also affirmed its 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings. The negative outlook reflects S&P's view that it could lower the ratings on the Dominican Republic over the next six to 18 months, given the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sovereign's already vulnerable fiscal and external profiles, as well as the potential for a weaker-than-expected economic recovery. Moody's credit rating for Dominican Republic was last set at Ba3 with stable outlook (July 2017). Fitch's credit rating for Dominican Republic was last reported at BB- with negative outlook (May 8, 2020). ============= J A M A I C A ============= JAMAICA: Inflation as at November was 7.8% ------------------------------------------ RJR News reports that inflation as at November was 7.8 per cent. In a release, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica said the percentage rise in the cost of goods for the 12 months to November was influenced by a 14 per cent increase in the cost of transportation, according to RJR News. An 8.3 per cent rise in costs for the group 'Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels' also influenced the increase, the report notes. Inflation for November was marginally less than the 8.5 per cent registered for the 12 months to October, the report adds. As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on Nov. 25, 2021, Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the Government of Jamaica's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings at B2. The senior unsecured shelf rating has also been affirmed at (P)B2. The outlook on the ratings remains stable. JAMAICA: To Boost Growth for MSMEs with $8.7M IDB Loan ------------------------------------------------------ Jamaica will boost sustainable and robust growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with EUR7.4 million ($8.7 million) non-reimbursable investment financing approved by the Inter-American Development Bank, with funds from the European Union's Caribbean Investment Facility (CIF). The new program will foster innovation and productivity among established MSMEs with high growth potential; promote sustainable growth in scalable startups; and create a sustainable inventory of new high-growth potential startups. In addition, the programme will foster the capabilities of the innovation ecosystem for technology transfer and support women-led incubators and generation of transaction flow. Approximately 120 women-owned MSMEs, 150 women entrepreneurs and researchers will benefit from the program, as well as seven climate change projects and 16 COVID-19 pandemic response projects to be financed. The beneficiaries are women-led MSMEs, scalable startups, new start-ups with high-growth potential, and entrepreneurs with sustainable business ideas. Public and private institutions that support innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, such as incubators, accelerators, academic institutions, and technology transfer offices, will also benefit. This operation is in line with IDB's Vision 2025 - Reinvesting in the Americas: A Decade of Opportunities, to achieve recovery and inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the areas of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, digital economy, gender and inclusion, and climate change. This operation complements a first $25 million Conditional Credit Line for Investment Projects (CCLIP), approved by the IDB in 2019 to finance the country's programme to Boost Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (BIGEE) by providing additional resources to address gender, climate change, and COVID-19 impact for firms. As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on Nov. 25, 2021, Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the Government of Jamaica's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings at B2. The senior unsecured shelf rating has also been affirmed at (P)B2. The outlook on the ratings remains stable. LIMETREE BAY: Bankruptcy Judge Approves $62M Sale to Jamaican Firm ------------------------------------------------------------------ Laura Sanicola at Reuters reports that a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the $62 million sale of Limetree Bay refinery to a Jamaican oil storage company that intends to restart the refinery. Private equity investors had poured $4.1 billion into reviving the aging U.S. Virgin Islands facility, which was shut down by U.S. environmental regulators after a botched restart earlier this year, according to Reuters. West Indies Petroleum, along with Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation, was named the winning bidder by Limetree after a second auction was conducted over the weekend, the report notes. If the company does not complete the sale in January, the refinery can be purchased by backup bidder St. Croix Energy LLLP, who raised their bid from $20 million to $57 million, the report discloses. At the refiner's request, Judge David Jones reopened the auction in early December because the chief executive officer of West Indies Petroleum had a medical emergency prior to the first auction, the report notes. St. Croix Energy objected to the second auction being held. "This was the first circumstance I could find that I ever reopened an auction for any reason, and my conclusion was that it was exactly the right decision," Jones said, the report relays. "Issues which might have been a bit murky are now in the public for all to see," he added. Both West Indies Petroleum and St. Croix Energy want to restart the refinery, which is currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice after releases of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide during a restart in early 2021 sickened St. Croix residents, the report notes. The Environmental Protection Agency filed a limited objection on in order to establish "sale order language" with West Indies Petroleum establishing environmental liability in the refinery's consent decree, the report discloses. The United States also sued Limetree Bay in July seeking injunctive relief under the Clean Air Act that includes requiring the refinery to "eliminate any imminent and substantial endangerment to human health, welfare, and the environment prior to restart of refinery operations," the report adds. =========== M E X I C O =========== GRUPO AEROMEXICO: Creditor Opposes Bankruptcy Restructuring Plan ---------------------------------------------------------------- Daina Beth Solomon and Noe Torres at Reuters report that a Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. creditor objected to the Mexican airline's restructuring plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying the proposal would unfairly benefit majority shareholder Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N. Invictus Global Management said in a public letter to Delta's board of directors that it opposed the plan put forward by Aeromexico, according to Reuters. Aeromexico said an unnamed third party would make a tender offer valuing its outstanding shares at a fraction of their previous market price as part of its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy, the report relays. Delta's stake would be diluted to 20%, while Apollo Global Management APO.N, a fund that often invests in bankrupt companies, would become Aeromexico's biggest shareholder, the report notes. "Daylight needs to shine on the actions and decisions that could position you to make hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of other stakeholders, including the many who stand to be economically crushed under the plan preferred by Delta and Apollo," said the letter, signed by Invictus partner Cindy Chen Delano, the report discloses. It added that the proposal included "seemingly egregious financial terms that defy decades of bankruptcy precedent," the report says. Invictus is a Delta shareholder as well as a sizeable creditor of Aeromexico, it said. Aeromexico said it had no comment, while Delta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. About Grupo Aeromexico Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: AEROMEX) -- https://www.aeromexico.com/ -- is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in commercial aviation in Mexico and the promotion of passenger loyalty programs. Aeromexico, Mexico's global airline, has its main hub at Terminal 2 at the Mexico City International Airport. Its destinations network features the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, Asia and Europe. Grupo Aeromexico and three of its subsidiaries sought Chapter 11 protection (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Lead Case No. 20-11563) on June 30, 2020. In the petitions signed by CFO Ricardo Javier Sanchez Baker, the Debtors reported consolidated assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion. The Debtors tapped Davis Polk and Wardell LLP as their bankruptcy counsel, KPMG Cardenas Dosal S.C. as auditor, and Rothschild & Co US Inc. and Rothschild & Co Mexico S.A. de C.V. as financial advisor and investment banker. White & Case LLP, Cervantes Sainz S.C. and De la Vega & Martinez Rojas, S.C., serve as the Debtors' special counsel. Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC, is the claims and administrative agent. The U.S. Trustee for Region 2 appointed a committee to represent unsecured creditors on July 13, 2020. The committee is represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP and Morrison & Foerster, LLP. ======= P E R U ======= PERU: Economy Grew 4.55% in October, Says Statistics Agency ----------------------------------------------------------- globalinsolvency.com, citing Reuters, reports that Peru's economy grew 4.55% year on year in October, the government statistics agency INEI said, as the world's second-largest copper producer saw a slowdown in growth after the economy recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The growth level is the lowest since March and in line with a forecast from the central bank, which said that economic growth was likely to have lost steam and grow between 4% and 6%, according to globalinsolvency.com. INEI added that Peru's economy had grown 15.99% in the first ten months of the year, the report adds. =============== X X X X X X X X =============== GRUPO AEROMEXICO: Offer To Value Shares At Fraction Of Value ------------------------------------------------------------ Noe Torres and Raul Cortes at Reuters report that Mexican carrier Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. said an unnamed third party would make a tender offer valuing its oustanding shares at a fraction of their previous market price as part of its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy. News of the planned tender offer, which would offer 0.01 peso for each outstanding share, sent its shares tumbling nearly 75%, according to Reuters. Shares in the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States last year amid the pandemic, closed at 3.89 pesos on Dec. 15, the report notes. They were trading at 1.84 pesos in early afternoon in Mexico. The offer gives existing shareholders the chance to withdraw from current capital stock prior to the capitalization of debts, the report discloses. Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), which had controlled a majority of Aeromexico, would not be taking part in the offer, a statement noted, and its stake will be diluted to 20%, the report relays. Aeromexico (AEROMEX.MX) gave no further details about the third party, the report says. Carlos Hernandez, senior analyst at Masari Casa de Bolsa, said ownership and management changes often spook the market, the report notes. "They can represent uncertainty for investors and even more so when some financial elements are compromised," Hernandez said. "Right now, we do not have a defining position for the company," the report says Still, Aeromexico emphasized that several of its longtime shareholders would remain with the company, including a core group of Mexican investors, with 4.1%, as well as Delta, the report relays. Aeromexico's biggest stakeholder coming out of bankrutpcy will be Apollo Global Management (APO.N), a fund which often invests in bankrupt companies, with 22.38%, the report notes. Apollo last year provided Aeromexico with $1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing, the report discloses. Aeromexico said a bankruptcy court had approved a disclosure statement regarding a plan for the reorganization of the company and its subsidiaries, the report relays. Up to 331,480,713 shares are expected to be acquired under the tender offer, the report notes. That would represent up to 49% of the capital stock prior to the dilution resulting from the restructuring plan, which would leave them representing less than 0.01% of the reorganized company's outstanding shares, Aeromexico said, the report discloses. Equity stakeholders are frequently diluted or even wiped out entirely during Chapter 11 reorganizations, in which debt is typically swapped for equity stakes, the report says. The rest will be distributed among new investors and creditors who swap their claims for Aeromexico's future stock, the airline said, the report adds. About Grupo Aeromexico Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: AEROMEX) -- https://www.aeromexico.com/ -- is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in commercial aviation in Mexico and the promotion of passenger loyalty programs. Aeromexico, Mexico's global airline, has its main hub at Terminal 2 at the Mexico City International Airport. Its destinations network features the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, Asia and Europe. Grupo Aeromexico and three of its subsidiaries sought Chapter 11 protection (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Lead Case No. 20-11563) on June 30, 2020. In the petitions signed by CFO Ricardo Javier Sanchez Baker, the Debtors reported consolidated assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion. The Debtors tapped Davis Polk and Wardell LLP as their bankruptcy counsel, KPMG Cardenas Dosal S.C. as auditor, and Rothschild & Co US Inc. and Rothschild & Co Mexico S.A. de C.V. as financial advisor and investment banker. White & Case LLP, Cervantes Sainz S.C. and De la Vega & Martinez Rojas, S.C., serve as the Debtors' special counsel. Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC, is the claims and administrative agent. The U.S. Trustee for Region 2 appointed a committee to represent unsecured creditors on July 13, 2020. The committee is represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP and Morrison & Foerster, LLP. LATAM: IDB Closes Year with Nearly $20 Billion in New Financing --------------------------------------------------------------- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and its private-sector arm, IDB Invest, expect to close the year 2021 with $19.5 billion in new financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, as they helped countries recover from the pandemic and usher in an era of sustainable and inclusive growth. The financing is the second-highest annual total in the history of the IDB and IDB Invest and helps countries invest in priorities ranging from COVID-19-era healthcare and digitalization to climate change action, supply chains and education. The funding will also help reduce gender inequality, expand entrepreneurial ecosystems, and empower small and midsize companies, which account for over two-thirds of the region's jobs. The combination of IDB loan approvals ($14 billion) and expected IDB Invest financial commitments ($5.5 billion) and private-sector mobilizations ($2.8 billion) totaled $22.3 billion. Latin America and the Caribbean is the region hardest hit by the pandemic. Home to about 8% of the world's population, it accounts for almost a third of all COVID-19 deaths - over 1.5 million people. The region also continues to face high inequality and serious economic and social challenges. "This year, we demonstrated how a 21st-century IDB can empower countries to overcome unimaginable challenges and pave the way to a new decade of prosperity. We did so by listening carefully to our clients and member countries and by leveraging our exceptional human capital to create innovative financing and private-sector partnerships that will accelerate the region's recovery," said IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone. "The pandemic created unprecedented challenges, but it also opened historic opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean to grow, especially in areas including digitalization, nearshoring and supply chains - and we are proud to be there, focused on helping countries seize those opportunities," he added. From Vaccines to Recovery Ecosystems In total, the IDB approved 103 projects in 2021 for a total of $14 billion, while disbursements are expected to reach $12.1 billion. In the context of COVID-19, financing helped countries secure life-saving vaccines and increased access to credit so that small and midsize companies, the main drivers of employment, can expand their businesses. New projects and financing will accelerate digitalization so countries can improve public services, expand educational access, increase transparency and combat corruption. Funding will also help improve digital-skills training to enrich the region's human capital. Amid a historic reconfiguration of international trade, the IDB approved $2.3 billion to strengthen regional supply chains, nearly doubling the average amount of the three years before the pandemic. This will help countries take advantage of a tangible new opportunity, amplified by the pandemic and the global supply-chain crisis, to attract foreign direct investment and increase exports of goods and services. The IDB also worked with 16 countries to identify critical export and supply-chain advantages, including, for example, in Costa Rica's semiconductor sector and the textile sector in Central American countries. Gender, Climate Change and Small Countries In 2021, the IDB continued to make it easier for countries to accelerate pandemic recovery, while simultaneously addressing critical, longstanding issues, such as climate change and gender inequality. The IDB launched its Amazon Initiative and approved about $4.5 billion in resources for climate-related operations, the highest amount ever. The IDB also took a leading role among multilateral development banks at COP26, the annual United Nations conference on climate change, announcing a plan to fully align operations with the Paris Agreement and provide $24 billion for climate and green finance over the next four years. Of all projects approved in 2021, nearly 70% included one or more components to tackle climate change, while 75% addressed gender issues. Almost 40% of approvals went to small and vulnerable countries. These numbers are aligned with the Bank's institutional priorities and its blueprint for economic recovery, Vision 2025. Institutional Reforms Drive Efficiency and Private-Sector Investment The IDB also piloted a streamlined process for projects that slashed approval times by 30%, enabling the bank to quickly meet the needs of its 26 regional member countries. "The IDB stepped up and delivered the second-highest level of approvals for sovereign guaranteed operations in the Bank's history in response to the pandemic, natural disasters and multiple other crises," President Claver-Carone said. "I am confident that as we implement new initiatives and roll out ongoing operational efforts, the IDB will be even more productive in 2022 to meet the needs of Latin America and the Caribbean as the region's partner of choice." In addition, the IDB dramatically scaled up its engagement with the private sector by creating the Private Sector Partners Coalition. The Coalition began with 40 of the world's leading companies and has since expanded to over 160 of the world's most innovative firms. Its activities span 13 working groups in areas including nearshoring, climate change, women's empowerment and digital transformation. The Coalition is creating a resource-mobilization platform to identify investment opportunities and channel new technology, know-how and other private-sector resources to the region. A strategic alliance with Coalition partner NTT Data everis, a top IT company, led to the creation of a platform that allowed Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to continue providing digital services during the pandemic. Another alliance with Mastercard and MercadoLibre led to an initiative to increase the financial resilience of smaller companies, women entrepreneurs and gig workers. To further catalyze investment, the IDB also hosted a series of investment-promotion forums in Belize, Brazil, Ecuador and Miami, as well as 12 trade promotion forums, which drew almost 100,000 participants. The events generated $55 billion in expected business deals. In 2022, the IDB plans to hold another round of investment and trade forums in Jamaica, Panama and Paraguay, among other countries. Innovating at IDB Invest IDB Invest, the IDB's private-sector arm, provided a total of $8.3 billion in financing in 2021. This includes $5.5 billion in short- and long-term commitments, and a record-breaking $2.8 billion in mobilizations. IDB Invest has mobilized $1 for every dollar closed on its own account in long-term financing, a 50% increase over the previous year. At COP26, IDB Invest announced the first blue bond in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the IDB's commitment to designing innovative financial solutions for climate action. IDB Invest's financial commitments also surpassed sectoral targets, with about 45% going toward gender, diversity and inclusion projects, while 30% targeted climate change and nearly 32% was for small and midsize companies. IDB Invest also increased its focus on digitalization and regional integration projects, which accounted for 15% and 25% of financial commitments, respectively. In addition, IDB Invest spearheaded innovative equity investments in the digital space, including in ProducePay, Recarga Pay, Kubo and Merqueo. MEXICO: Banxico Uncommitted to More Half-Point Hikes, Gov Says -------------------------------------------------------------- Bloomberg News reports that Mexico's central bank isn't committed to a pace of half-point increases to its benchmark interest rate after delivering a hike of that magnitude in December, according to outgoing Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon. The bank announced a bigger-than-expected increase to borrowing costs, following four straight quarter-point hikes, in an effort to combat skyrocketing inflation. Diaz de Leon, who leaves office at year-end, said policy makers are navigating "uncharted territory" and shouldn't constrain themselves before future decisions, according to Bloomberg News. "There's this view that there's either the 25 or the 50 basis-point lane, either you are in one or the other -- and I don't see it that way," Diaz de Leon told Bloomberg News during an interview in his office, the report relays. "You would find it costly rather than beneficial to commit to something," he added. The bank, known as Banxico, expects inflation to peak in the fourth quarter, he said, adding that the official projection of an average 7.1% increase in consumer prices during the fourth quarter implies that December's print will be the high point, the report notes. The Mexican peso fell slightly on the news that Banxico wasn't committed to any specific future hikes, said Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco BASE, the report says. It fell to an intra-day low of 20.87 to the dollar shortly after the interview was published, before recovering to 20.80 at 4:05 p.m. ET, the report discloses. Before starting to tighten monetary policy in June, Banxico had lowered rates by 3 percentage points in 2020 and an additional quarter point this year, providing Mexico's only significant stimulus as the economy crashed during the pandemic, the report notes. Bank's Independence Yale-educated Diaz de Leon, who spent 16 years working at the bank before joining its board, has been the very image of a stolid central banker, the report relays. He gives little away in public comments, rarely strays from complex jargon and has made cautious pragmatism central to his governing philosophy, the report notes. Investors are now worried about the future of the institution under Victoria Rodriguez, a little-known public spending chief with little experience in monetary policy who was a last-minute pick by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the report relays. The fact that the Mexican leader has expressed his desire for the new Banxico chief to govern "with a social dimension" only increased concerns over the bank's independence going forward, the report discloses. Diaz de Leon poured cold water on such worries, saying the bank has "institutional inertia" that would support the new governor in her role, the report says. Diaz de Leon's quiet, institution-centered approach has made him an occasional target of Lopez Obrador's diatribes in his daily press conferences, the report relays. The president has weighed in on what he thinks rates should be and attacked the bank for refusing to share windfalls from a foreign exchange surplus, the report notes. The outgoing governor said that Lopez Obrador's opinions were part of natural "healthy debate" over the actions of a public institution, the report discloses. He emphasized that the president has never interfered in the bank's decisions, the report adds. ********* S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America is a daily newsletter co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA, Marites O. Claro, Joy A. Agravante, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman, Editors. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2746. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Latin America subscription rate is US$775 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. 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