The Mexican Treasury sees the sale of Banamex close and benefits to the banking sector

The purchase of Mexican National Bank (Banamex) is nearing the end and will benefit the banking sector with a possible greater competition, said this Thursday the Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit, Gabriel Yorio.

The Mexican official maintained that the negotiation between the American Citigroup and Grupo México of magnate Germán Larrea, the second richest Mexican, “It’s getting close to the end.”although he preferred not to reveal more details for confidentiality.

“The negotiation between both parties seems to be going quite well, I would prefer to leave the announcements to the buyers and sellers when they reach a good agreement,” He commented in statements to the media.

Yorio recalled that it is an operation between private parties, although he clarified that the Ministry of Finance maintains surveillance of the negotiations as rector of the sector.

“The Ministry of Finance has a very important role, we have been very responsible monitoring how the dialogue and negotiation between both parties are taking place,” said.

On the other hand, the Undersecretary of Finance affirmed that this transaction would be positive to strengthen competition in the banking sector.

In this sense, he pointed out that the country still lacks more competition and, above all, “have more depth”

“This means that by having new players in the market, the concentration of the financial sector is decreasing and this transaction is betting on this result”he detailed.

In addition, he hoped that the closing of this negotiation will allow “a more productive use” for the Mexican financial sector, so he insisted on seeing it “with good eyes”

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador agreed on this, who last Wednesday stated that he observes “good” this transaction.

This, despite the fact that he admitted differences with Larrea, head of the country’s largest mining company, Grupo México.

“We have transmitted to the directors of CitiBanamex that there is no disagreement on the part of the Government of Mexico,” indicated in his usual press conference.

A day later, Larrea visited the National Palace, where he would have had a meeting with the Mexican president, without revealing any details of the sale process.

Banamex it oscillates between the third and fourth most important bank in the country with 11.4% of total commercial banking assets.

Until the first quarter of 2023, the retail business of Citigroup in Mexico It has more than 41,000 employees, 12.7 million consumer banking clients, 6,000 business clients and 10 million Mexicans with a voluntary savings account (Afore).

Source: EFE