Mexico

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will lend US$50m to Mexico's fourth-largest banking group Grupo Financiero Banorte

Mexico's leading credit insurers Atradius and Euler Hermes anticipate the market growing 30-50% this year and next

The Mexican unit of British bank HSBC announced it had joined a small business credit scoring alliance with government home finance agency Infonavit. HSBC, the fifth-biggest bank in Mexico

Mexico's credit insurance market could expand by up to 25% this year as an increasing number of companies look to insure their accounts receivable, Atradius Mexico CEO Karel van Laack told.

Mexico's largest credit insurer Atradius Mйxico said its profits fell 22% in 2004 because of higher reserve provisions.

Mexico's fourth largest bank HSBC Mexico has signed a small business financing agreement with the economy ministry and development fund Fundes, the bank announced in a statement.

The National Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext) has reported that this year it will channel US$5.8 billion to finances businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said Hйctor Reyes Retana, director general of the institution.

Mexican development bank, Nacional Financiera (Nafin) and the American export and import bank Ex-Im Bank signed an agreement to grant loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Between January and September this year, the earnings of the 15 factoring companies in Mexico reached 137.3 million pesos (US$12.3m), which was a decrease of 14.6% compared to the same period of 2003.

The Latin American Association of Development Finance Institutions (ALIDE) is planning to join forces with other organisations in order to increase financing for small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.