| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | January 2009 
Mexican President’s Party Will Propose Law Lowering Loan Rates
 Adriana Lopez Caraveo & Jens Erik Gould - Bloomberg
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Senators from Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s party will propose legislation to lower interest rates on loans made by banks and companies, Senator Gustavo Madero said.
The proposal may set maximum interest rates, said Madero, who is the senate leader for the National Action Party. The measure will replace or expand upon an initiative introduced in Congress last month that aimed to cap interest rates commercial banks charge consumers for credit cards, Madero said.
“Rates are too high,” Madero said late yesterday in an interview. “We’re going to address the cost of credit not only at banks, but also through commercial companies.”
Some Mexican lenders charge annual interest rates of more than 70 percent, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has criticized the costs at microlender Banco Compartamos SA as exorbitant. Borrowers may have more trouble paying as a worsening economy reduces jobs and remittances from Mexicans living abroad decline.
Senators from Madero’s party, known as PAN, plan to submit the initiative in the congressional session beginning next month.
Banco Compartamos, which makes loans to the working poor, aims to lower its average interest rate on loans to below 78 percent this year, Chief Financial Officer Fernando Alvarez said in October.
Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB’s banking unit collects between 59 percent and 75 percent in annual interest rates on its credit cards.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adriana Lopez Caraveo in Mexico City at adrianalopez(at)bloomberg.net; Jens Erik Gould in Mexico City at jgould9(at)bloomberg.net |
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