The president indicated that Rogelio Ramírez de la O will now be her personal international economic advisor.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the departure of Rogelio Ramírez de la O as Secretary of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), and reported that he will now be a personal international economic advisor, while Edgar Amador Zamora will be the new head of the Treasury.
After talk of the secretary's resignation began at noon on Friday, the federal Executive confirmed in a video on social media about his departure and change at the Treasury.
“I have asked him to help me with a very special task, which is to be an economic advisor for international affairs. It is a fundamental task, particularly because of the relationship we have with the United States,” she said in a video where she is seen accompanied by the two officials in question.
Sheinbaum praised the work of Ramírez de la O, whom she considered “the best economist our country has,” and explained that when she asked him to stay at the head of the Treasury after his performance in the previous six-year term, the economist asked her to accompany her until December, so he stayed on overtime.
Ramírez de la O took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the president. “It is an honor to have been invited to remain at the head of the SHCP by the first female president of Mexico (...) I did it with dedication and to the best of my will for as long as possible.”
He added that his family commitments outside the country were what led him to leave office; however, he assured that he would comply with the instructions of the federal executive to give priority to the most unprotected population through the budget, in addition to keeping the debt on a balanced path.
“The Ministry of Finance has a team of highly capable professionals committed to Mexico. This team is still in place and I would like to acknowledge them for all that they have taught me about the many tasks of this ministry,” he said.
In this regard, the president assured that the now former Secretary of Finance “helped Mexico a lot” in his position, which he will continue to do now as an international advisor.
Regarding Edgar Amador Zamora, Sheinbaum explained that he will be the new head of the Treasury, where she said there is a great team, which will stay.
“Mexico has a very strong economy and we have excellent collaborators and we will always do very well,” said the president.
For his part, Edgar Amador Zamora said that his appointment as the new secretary is a “huge honor” and assured that the department is committed to macroeconomic stability.
“Going forward, we are committed to financial stability, to our currency and to macroeconomic stability so that our country's economy grows on solid foundations and the objectives of the Fourth Transformation are confirmed and met,” he explained.
These changes are taking place at a time when the Mexican economy is showing some weakness, while fiscal consolidation is expected to reduce the deficit from 5.7 to 3.9% of GDP this year, amid the uncertainty generated by the imposition of tariffs by the United States on Mexican products.
Who is the new head of the SHCP?
Originally from Coahuila, Amador Zamora arrived at the Ministry of Finance with the government of Claudia Sheinbaum, in October of last year, and joined Ramírez de la O's team as undersecretary, replacing Gabriel Yorio, who decided not to continue being the secretary's "right-hand man."
Zamora is an economist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and holds a master's degree in Economics from the Colegio de México. During Miguel Mancera's government in Mexico City, Edgar Amador served as head of the capital's Finance Secretariat. Prior to his arrival at the Ministry of Finance, he was an advisor to Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).
Since his arrival, he has made several public appearances, including the SHCP's quarterly conferences to discuss public finance reports.
On Friday afternoon, President Claudia Sheinbau confirmed Amador Zamora as the new head of the Treasury, while sources close to the agency have commented that Rodrigo Mariscal, head of the Treasury's Economic Planning Unit, could take his place at the head of the sub-secretariat, and they do not even rule out that María del Carmen Bonilla, head of the Treasury's Public Credit and International Affairs Unit, could also rise to the position.
