Editing Economy of Mexico (section)

==Services==
[[File:Hotel_Camino_Real_Nuevo_Laredo.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Camino Real Hotels]]]]
In 2013 the tertiary sector was estimated to account for 59.8% of Mexico's GDP.<ref name="CIA"/> In 2011 services employed 61.9% of the working population.<ref name="CIA"/> This section includes transportation, commerce, warehousing, restaurant and hotels, arts and entertainment, health, education, financial and banking services, telecommunications as well as public administration and defense. Mexico's service sector is strong, and in 2001 replaced [[Brazil]]'s as the largest service sector in Latin America in dollar terms.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.sitrends.org/facts/figure.asp?FIGURE_ID=64 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020618212234/http://sitrends.org/facts/figure.asp?FIGURE_ID=64 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 18, 2002 |title=Mexico Services Sector posts strong growth, Argentina falls behind. Based on Latin Business Chronicle on Services in Latin America |access-date=February 16, 2007 |author=The Mark Twain Institute }}</ref>

===Tourism===
{{Further|Tourism in Mexico}}
[[File:Cancun_Beach.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[beach]] in [[Cancún]], México.]]

Tourism is one of the most important industries in Mexico. It is the fourth largest source of foreign exchange for the country.<ref name="remittances">{{Cite journal  | last1 = Hernández-Coss  | first1 = R  | title = The U.S.–Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems  | publisher = The World Bank  | year = 2005  | url = http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTAML/Resources/396511-1146581427871/US-Mexico_Remittance_Corridor_WP.pdf  | access-date = February 21, 2007 | archive-date = November 24, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191124075824/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTAML/Resources/396511-1146581427871/US-Mexico_Remittance_Corridor_WP.pdf  | url-status = live  }}</ref> Mexico is the eighth most visited country in the world (with over 20 million tourists a year).<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/eng/pdf/indicators/Top25_ita.pdf |title=World's Top Tourism Destinations (absolute numbers) |access-date=February 16, 2007 |author=UNTWO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808213546/http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/eng/pdf/indicators/Top25_ita.pdf |archive-date=August 8, 2007 }}</ref>

===Finance===

====Banking system====
[[File:Torre_BBVA_Bancomer.jpg|thumb|left|250px|BBVA Bancómer Tower]]
According to the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] the Mexican banking system is strong, in which private banks are profitable and well-capitalized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr06350.pdf |title=Mexico: Financial System Stability Assessment Update |access-date=May 29, 2007 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214016/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr06350.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The financial and banking sector is increasingly dominated by foreign companies or mergers of foreign and Mexican companies with the notable exception of [[Banorte]]. The acquisition of [[Banamex]], one of the oldest surviving financial institutions in Mexico, by [[Citigroup]] was the largest US-Mexico corporate merger, at US$12.5&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citigroup.com/citigroup/corporate/history/banamex.htm |title=Grupo Financiero Banamex |access-date=February 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203153400/http://www.citigroup.com/citigroup/corporate/history/banamex.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The largest financial institution in Mexico is [[Bancomer]] associated to the Spanish [[BBVA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bancomer.com.mx/nuestrom/index.html |title=Acerca de Bancomer |access-date=February 16, 2007 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208020413/http://www.bancomer.com.mx/nuestrom/index.html |archive-date=February 8, 2007  }}</ref>

The process of institution building in the financial sector in Mexico has evolved hand in hand with the efforts of financial liberalization and of inserting the economy more fully into world markets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/g20/20031026_cs_mex.pdf|title=Globalization: The Role of Institution Building in the Financial Sector. The Case of Mexico|access-date=February 16, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222070734/http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/g20/20031026_cs_mex.pdf|archive-date=December 22, 2006}}</ref> Over the recent years, there has been a wave of acquisitions by foreign institutions such as US-based Citigroup, Spain's BBVA and the UK's [[HSBC]]. Their presence, along with a better regulatory framework, has allowed Mexico's banking system to recover from the [[Mexican peso crisis|1994–95 peso crisis]]. Lending to the public and private sector is increasing and so is activity in the areas of insurance, leasing and mortgages.<ref name="eiu">{{cite web |url=http://portal.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=displayIssueArticle&issue_id=180437203&article_id=290437214| title=Country Finance Main Report: April 26, 2006 (Mexico) |access-date=February 16, 2007 |format=Requires subscription}}</ref> However, bank credit accounts for only 22% of GDP, which is significantly low compared to 70% in Chile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontenet.com/juarez/ppal.cfm?num=140283 |title=Mantiene sistema financiero baja penetración: Werner |access-date=February 16, 2007 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212121642/http://www.frontenet.com/juarez/ppal.cfm?num=140283 |archive-date=February 12, 2009 }}</ref> Credit to the Agricultural sector has fallen 45.5% in six years (2001 to 2007), and now represents about 1% of total bank loans.<ref>{{Cite news  | last1=Zúñiga  | first1=Juan Antonio  | title=El crédito a la agricultura cayó 45.5% en 6 años  | date=February 20, 2007 | url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/02/20/index.php?section=economia&article=028n1eco  | newspaper=[[La Jornada]]  | language=es  | access-date=February 25, 2007 | archive-date=October 15, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015122930/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/02/20/index.php?section=economia&article=028n1eco  | url-status=live  }}</ref> Other important institutions include savings and loans, credit unions (known as "cajas populares"),<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/business/article/Mexicans-turn-to-cajas-for-loans-1564206.php| author=Eliza Barclay| title=Mexicans turn to cajas for loans| newspaper=Houston Chronicle| date=December 24, 2005| access-date=February 7, 2013| archive-date=September 3, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903214209/https://www.chron.com/business/article/Mexicans-turn-to-cajas-for-loans-1564206.php| url-status=live}}</ref> government development banks, “non-bank banks”, [[bonded warehouse]]s, bonding companies and foreign-exchange firms.<ref>[http://portal.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=displayIssueArticle&issue_id=180437203&article_id=310437216 Country Finance Main Report: April 26, 2006 (Mexico)] Banks Overview</ref>

A wave of acquisitions has left Mexico's financial sector in foreign hands. Their foreign-run affiliates compete with independent financial firms operating as commercial banks, brokerage and securities houses, insurance companies, retirement-fund administrators, mutual funds, and leasing companies.

====Securities market====

[[File:Bolsa Mexicana de Valores.png|thumb|The Mexican Stock Exchange]]
Mexico has a single securities market, the [[Bolsa Mexicana de Valores|Mexican Stock Exchange]] ('''Bolsa Mexicana de Valores''', known as the Bolsa). The market has grown steadily, with its main indices increasing by more than 600% in the last decade. It is Latin America's second largest exchange, after Brazil's. The total value of the domestic [[market capitalization]] of the BMV was calculated at [[United States dollar|US$]]409 billion at the end of 2011, and raised to [[United States dollar|US$]]451 billion by the end of February this year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.world-exchanges.org/statistics/monthly-reports |title=Monthly Reports |publisher= World Federation of Exchanges  |access-date=June 11, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817220823/http://www.world-exchanges.org/statistics/monthly-reports |archive-date=August 17, 2014  }}</ref>

[[File:Alianza_del_Pacífico-Logo.PNG|thumb|left|200px|[[Pacific Alliance]]-Logo 
Since 2014 it is part of the [[Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano]], as part of a unified bag of The Pacific Alliance.]]

The [[Indice de Precios y Cotizaciones]] (IPC, the general equities index) is the benchmark stock index on the Bolsa. In 2005 the IPC surged 37.8%, to 17,802.71 from 12,917.88, backed by a stronger Mexican economy and lower interest rates. It continued its steep rise through the beginning of 2006, reaching 19,272.63 points at end-March 2006. The stockmarket also posted a record low vacancy rate, according to the central bank. Local stockmarket capitalisation totalled US$236bn at end-2005, up from US$170 bn at end-2004. As of March 2006 there were 135 listed companies, down from 153 a year earlier. Only a handful of the listed companies are foreign. Most are from [[Mexico City]] or [[Monterrey]]; companies from these two cities compose 67% of the total listed companies.

The IPC consists of a sample of 35 shares weighted according to their market capitalisation. The largest companies include America Telecom, the holding company that manages Latin America's largest mobile company, [[América Móvil]]; [[Telmex]], Mexico's largest telephone company; [[Grupo Bimbo]], world's biggest baker; and [[Walmex|Wal-Mart de México]], a subsidiary of the US retail company. The makeup of the IPC is adjusted every six months, with selection aimed at including the most liquid shares in terms of value, volume and number of trades.

Mexico's stock market is closely linked to developments in the US. Thus, volatility in the [[New York Stock Exchange|New York]] and [[Nasdaq]] stock exchanges, as well as interest-rate changes and economic expectations in the US, can steer the performance of Mexican equities. This is both because of Mexico's economic dependence on the US and the high volume of trading in Mexican equities through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Currently, the decline in the value of the dollar is making non-US markets, including Mexico's, more attractive.

Despite the recent gains, investors remain wary of making placements in second-tier initial public offerings (IPOs). Purchasers of new issues were disappointed after prices fell in numerous medium-sized companies that made offerings in 1996 and 1997. IPO activity in Mexico remains tepid and the market for second-tier IPOs is barely visible. There were three IPOs in 2005.<ref>[http://portal.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=displayIssueArticle&issue_id=180437203&article_id=1370437322 Country Finance Main Report: April 26, 2006 (Mexico)] Securities Market Overview</ref>