Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico, says his government isn’t interested in Bitcoin and is more concerned about tax evasion. Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America.
Recently, El Salvador’s decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender set off a wave of political excitement across Latin America, with a growing list of governments in the region enthused about the idea of giving cryptocurrencies a try. However today in a press conference Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ruled out the possibility of his country adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
“We are not going to change in that aspect. We think that we must maintain orthodoxy in the management of finances [and] not try to innovate much in financial management,” the president said in response to reporters’ questions about Bitcoin.
Back in June, Mexico issued a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country’s financial system. Arturo Herrera, Mexico’s finance minister, said cryptocurrencies aren’t legal tender assets and aren’t treated as currencies within the country’s current regulatory framework
General consensus are that Mexico could benefit from the move, economically the country is not doing well. According to reports, the Mexican economy is projected to expand by 5% in 2021 and 3.2% in 2022. Manufacturing exports will support growth benefiting from the strong recovery and policy support in the United States.
Inflation increased in the first half of 2021 due to a low-base effect and higher energy prices, but it is expected to edge down amid large spare capacity. Poverty, inequalities and gender gaps have widened again due to the pandemic.