MEXICO REJECTS CALLS TO REPRIVATISE BANKS
Senior officials from government and
the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) rejected
business sector calls this week to reprivatise the 26 Mexican
banks, nationalised five years ago.
    PRI president Jorge de la Vega, speaking in Saltillo,
Coahuila state, said the party would never permit
reprivatisation "because the banks belong to all Mexicans."
    Speaking in Hermosillo, Sonora State, Deputy Finance
Minister Francisco Suarez Davila said the nationalised banks
have proved a positive instrument through which the government
has been able to promote economic development.
    Suarez davila said that in the hands of the state, banks
have performed well and that the government will adopt whatever
reorganization is needed to improve efficiency.
    Earlier this week, the newly elected head of the powerful
business coordinating council, agustin legorreta, called for
the banks to be reprivatized, charging that competition and
efficiency had been eroded.
    Then president jose lopez portillo nationalised the banks
in 1982, accusing them of aiding capital flight. Later that
year, miguel de la madrid took office and announced a scheme to
offer 34 pct of the banks' shares to the public.
 Reuter
