LatinNews Daily - 20 March 2026

*Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has sent a bill to congress to promote investment in “strategic infrastructure” as part of efforts to boost growth. Speaking at a conference organised by Mexico’s banking association, Asociación de Bancos de México (ABM), in Cancún, Quintana Roo state, Sheinbaum said the bill contemplated public and private investment of M$5.6tn (US$314bn) in strategic sectors over the course of her term, which ends in 2030. This includes adding an extra 30,000 megawatts of electricity generation by 2030; increasing the share of renewable energy sources to 48%; and expanding the use of natural gas while reducing reliance on foreign imports of natural gas from 75% to 50%. Additionally, the investment would go towards building more roads and highways, as well as initiatives to support ports, railways, healthcare, and water infrastructure. Sheinbaum added that 15 strategic projects are being considered through the state-owned development bank Nacional Financiera (Nafin) to promote technological innovation through initiatives developed in collaboration with Mexican academics and scientists. The bill would create a centralised process to enable investment to help fund these projects and would also retain the State as a key stakeholder, Jorge Mendoza, the head of another state development bank, Banobras, told Bloomberg. The bill comes as Mexico’s economy grew by just 0.6% in 2025, representing the country’s fourth consecutive year of weaker growth and its longest slowdown since the 1980s.