Spain's Banco Santander on Thursday announced plans to invest 15 billion pesos ($735 million) in Mexico over the next three years - its biggest-ever outlay in the Aztec nation - despite uncertainty in the markets and Mexico's economy ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next month. The president of Santander Mexico, Hector Grisi, announced the investment program and said it was aimed at modernizing Santander's systems and branch network to transform the bank into Mexico's best financial institution. Speaking at a year-end press event, Grisi said the investment plan was Santander's biggest-ever in Mexico, a country that contributes 7 percent of the group's profits, fourth-most after Brazil (20 percent), the United Kingdom (19 percent) and Spain (14 percent), based on third-quarter figures. The investment program will include a 3-billion-peso outlay for systems in 2017, the executive said. In response to journalists' questions about the impact of Trump's presidency and the Mexican central bank's decision in November to hike its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.25 percent, the executive said Santander would not initially modify its rates based on the market and instead would adjust them as needed depending on the clients' profile. On Dec. 5, Mexico's central bank said it was not ruling out "new episodes of volatility" that put additional pressure on national financial markets following Trump's victory. The peso fell sharply versus the dollar after the surprise victory by the Republican real-estate mogul, who has threatened to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement that links the United States, Canada and Mexico and build a wall on the US-Mexico border. The Mexican currency has been sliding against the greenback for more than a year due to low oil prices and the US Federal Reserve's decision late last year to begin raising its benchmark rate from a historically low level. But Grisi put those concerns into perspective. "Our commitment to Mexico is over the long term," he said, adding that "these investments need to be made no matter what ... We're worried about what we can control. Remaining focused on what we have to do."
Banco Santander plans to invest MXN15bn ($735 million) in Mexico over the coming three years, despite the market uncertainty and the fluctuations in Mexico’s economy as US president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. The president of Santander Mexico said the investment would be used to modernise the financial institution’s systems and branch network.