No, the Mexican Peso is not the “second strongest currency in the world”

Written by Felipe Jaran Jimenez

If you only have a few seconds, read these lines:

• Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), said his country is “the country with the most strength in its currency after the dollar.” This is a mistake.
• In addition, an image has been circulated indicating, following this narrative line, that the Mexican peso is the “second most powerful currency in the world” or “the most appreciated currency in 2022”, but this data is also incorrect.
• In fact, the Mexican peso is the second currency, among the so-called “emerging currencies”, to gain the most value against the US dollar in 2022 and is not among the strongest currencies in the world.

Through WhatsApp chat consulting our allied media Connecting Arizona We get a title, accompanied by a bar graph, that says: The Mexican peso is the second strongest currency in the world. this is not true. The phrase is taken from statements by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who in turn provided incorrect information.

We explain it to you.

The Mexican peso is the second currency to appreciate against the dollar in 2022, not the second strongest

On March 2, 2023, during his traditional morning press conference, known as “La Mananera,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, confirmed it Mexico is the country in the world with the strongest currency after the dollar.a phrase very similar to the headline that came to us as a query.

This statement is incorrect.

In fact, the Mexican peso is the second currency, among the so-called “emerging currencies,” to have appreciated the highest value against the US dollar in 2022, after the Russian ruble.

“Emerging Coins” are the official tender coins of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Philippines, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, MexicoMorocco, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, South Korea, Indexed like this before Financial conglomerate Morgan Stanley.

Broker specializing in economics and financial markets, Bloomberg published it Throughout 2022, the Mexican peso has appreciated by 6.12% in value compared to the US dollar.

Among the emerging currencies, Only the Russian ruble has grown more compared to the US currency: 23.75%.

Currency exchange agency FBS has developed a rating of the most powerful currencies in the worldAnd According to its exchange rate with the US dollarAnd the first 10 are:

• Kuwaiti Dinar
• Bahraini dinar
• Omani dinar
• Jordanian Dinar
• Cayman Islands dollar
• British pound (United Kingdom)
• Swiss Franc
• euro
• Canadian dollar

And the Mexican peso does not appear among them, but is located in the 30th place, as compiled by FBS.

What the Mexican peso has done in the last year is increase the value against the United States dollar, and effectively, It is the second “emerging currency” with the largest percentage of performance, but that does not mean that it is the second most powerful currency in the world.

A Narrative Drawn from the Presidency: Similar Statements by AMLO

In November and December 2022, President López Obrador made statements following the same controversy.

during On the morning of November 23, 2022“Our currency is the strongest in the world against the dollar,” AMLO said.

Just a month later, on December 23, the Mexican president posted tweet says “In half a century, we haven’t noticed that the peso, instead of devaluing it, We value to the point of being the stronger currency relative to the dollar“.

It is not true that this is the most appreciated, because only within emerging currencies have we found a currency that has made more than the Mexican peso against the dollar: the Russian ruble.

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