Drought Threatens Global Supply Of Sugar And Rice
Thailand has already begun the generation of contingency plans to deal with a potential drought that could last years and squeeze global supplies of sugar and rice. Rainfall across the nation may be as much as 10% below average this monsoon season, and the onset of the El Niño weather pattern could lower precipitation even further over the next two years
U.S. Manufacturing Slump Deepens
U.S. manufacturing slumped further in June, reaching levels last seen when the nation was reeling from the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but price pressures at the factory gate continued to deflate, a silver lining for the economy. Shrinking activity left factories resorting to layoffs, according to the survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
Twitter-Like Threads To Be Implemented In Meta
Meta Platforms (META.O) plans to launch a microblogging app, Threads, days after Twitter executive chair Elon Musk announced a temporary cap on how many posts users can read on the social media site. Threads, an Instagram text-based conversation app, is expected to be released this Thursday.
Today’s News
Mexico is among the 15 largest economies in the world. The country possesses solid macroeconomic institutions, is open to trade and has a diversified manufacturing base that is connected to global value chains.
Over the last 3 decades, Mexico has underperformed in terms of growth, inclusion and poverty reduction compared to its peers. Its economic growth averaged a mere 2% a year, stunting its progress.
However, that all changed when the Mexican economy grew by 4.7% in 2021, with a subsequent increase of 3.1% in the following year of 2022, dubbing it the ‘super peso’.
Experts indicate that Mexico needs to accelerate sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction over the medium term, addressing structural constraints such as limited access to finance, insecurity, informality, regulatory burdens, and infrastructure bottlenecks. Successfully tackling these challenges would allow the country to fully seize the opportunity that nearshoring represents in the current international environment.
Reports on the Mexican rebound are as follows:
New Record For Remittances To Mexico
Mexico brought in close to $5.7 billion in remittances in May, central bank data indicated, breaking a monthly record that analysts cautioned was softened by the recent strength of the peso versus the dollar.
While Mexico records remittances in dollars, as most of the funds come from the United States, “a strong peso hurts remittances,” said Goldman Sachs analyst Alberto Ramos. Mexico’s “super peso” is among the top-performing currencies this year, appreciating more than 13% against the U.S. dollar from May 2022 to May 2023.
Mexico Launches Antitrust Probe
Mexico’s antitrust watchdog has started an investigation into possible monopolistic practices in the market for the sale and development of digital goods and services, as well as related services, the government said in its official gazette.
The Federal Economic Competition Commision (COFECE) said it had begun the probe to see if the practices in question breached federal competition law.
More Jobs, More Labor Rights
U.S. wants the Mexican government to build strong institutions to protect worker rights as companies are aiming to avoid supply chain disruptions in far-off production spots bring more jobs to the country, claimed a top U.S. labor official.
Mexico has begun to benefit from “nearshoring” in which companies seek to move production closer to the U.S. market while maintaining competitive costs.
