In the first quarter of 2024, the peso showed strength against the US dollar, registering an appreciation of 2.38 percent in wholesale operations, according to data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
This comes after the exchange rate at the close of December last year, as of March 27 of this year, moved from 16.9666 to 16.5625 pesos per dollar. In fact, on the last day of March, the exchange rate reached 16.5120 units, a level not seen since December 2, 2015.
This behavior led Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to state through his social media platform X that "the peso is the currency that has strengthened the most in the world against the dollar; it appreciated as it had not happened in nine years, closing at 16.56 pesos per dollar (...)".
Additionally, the Mexican peso ranked in the first three months of the year as the most appreciated currency in the broad basket of major crosses.
According to Bloomberg data, the Brazilian real depreciated by 3.39 percent in the period, and the euro gained ground against the dollar, with 2.21 percent.
Regarding this, Janneth Quiroz Zamora, director of Economic, Foreign Exchange, and Stock Market Analysis at Monex Grupo Financiero, commented that the Mexican currency remains the most appreciated currency so far this year, which is explained by the 550 basis point differential between Banxico's benchmark interest rates and those of the US Fed.
On the other hand, Gabriela Siller, director of Economic-Financial Analysis at Grupo Financiero Base, commented that there are factors that increase the risk of peso depreciation in the coming months, such as a nomination of Trump as a presidential candidate in the US.