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The remittances received by Mexican families have lost more than 20% of their purchasing power over the last year and a half, according to a warning from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
The warning linked this deterioration to the stagnation of household consumption, according to the minutes published this Thursday regarding the Mexican central bank's Governing Board meeting, held prior to the decision to keep interest rates at 6.5%.
The document notes that one member pointed out that "the purchasing power of remittances has decreased by more than 20% in the last year and a half" and added that these funds, measured in pesos and discounting the effect of inflation, have continued to contract.
"It specified that the purchasing power of remittances has decreased by more than 20% in the last year and a half. It added that the prevailing uncertainty could be affecting consumption dynamics by inducing precautionary savings," the minutes indicated.
The phenomenon occurs after the exchange rate reached levels below 17 pesos per dollar, which caused each dollar sent to be exchanged for fewer Mexican pesos, although in September it registered its largest drop since 2024 with a monthly depreciation of 6.32%, while rising prices further reduce consumption capacity with that money.
The member also observed that the consumption of Mexican products and services has remained stagnant for a year and a half and linked this situation to the deterioration in the purchasing power of remittances.
Between January and June 2026, private consumption grew by just 0.8%, according to the Banxico minutes.
Although purchases of national products advanced by 1.8%, the consumption of national services and imported goods registered growth near zero.
Added to this is economic uncertainty, which, according to the central bank member, causes families to postpone purchases to save money in the face of potential difficulties.
The most recent official data shows that Mexico, the world's second-largest recipient of these funds, received 5.452 billion dollars in remittances during August, 3.6% less than in the same month of 2025.
The number of operations fell by 6.4%, although the average shipment increased by 3%, to 412 dollars.
Despite that year-on-year decline in August, in the first eight months of 2026, remittances totaled 41.802 billion dollars, 2.2% more than in the same period of 2025.
Banxico raised its economic growth forecast for 2026 from 1.1% to 1.5%, although its members warned that the recovery remains uneven and that signs of weakness in employment persist.
In parallel, general inflation increased from 3.1% to 3.42%, although Banxico warned that the prices of services such as housing, education, and restaurants continue to show resistance to falling, with an annual inflation rate of 4.33%, which keeps pressure on household budgets. EFE
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