Mexico Sets Borrower Standard 20 Years After Tequila Crisis

Mexico is close to rivaling Chile as a Latin American standard for creditworthiness as more investors anticipate that President Enrique Pena Nieto will deliver on his promises for economic growth.

Their conviction stems from the constitutional changes pushed through by the 48-year-old president, from opening Mexico’s oil industry to private investment to spurring competition in a telecommunications industry dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim. Now, two decades after the country needed a $50 billion U.S.-led bailout to avoid defaulting, the cost to insure the nation’s debt against non-payment has tumbled. Credit-default swaps dropped below Chile, the region’s highest-rated sovereign, for the first time ever in June.