Mexico's Foreign Reserves at Record $150.26 Bln Anthony Harrup - MarketWatch
go to original April 3, 2012

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's foreign reserves last week surpassed $150 billion for the first time ever as state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos and the federal government sold dollars to the central bank, the Bank of Mexico said Tuesday.

The central bank said reserves rose $2.14 billion last week to $150.26 billion. Pemex, which changes oil dollars at the central bank, sold $1.5 billion last week, and the federal government sold the bank $500 million. Another $141 million came from changes in the value of the bank's international assets.

Mexico has been accumulating reserves as insurance against future bouts of global market turmoil, after the crisis of 2008-2009 led the central bank to sell more than $30 billion to supply liquidity to the exchange market. Late last year, the bank suspended the monthly dollar put options under which it was buying up to $600 million a month when the peso was appreciating against the dollar.

With world oil prices high, Pemex remains the main source of foreign reserve accumulation.

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