| Headline: States initiate purely financial bonds Source: Euromoney Date: October 2001 Author: Robin Emmott MEXICO The 31 states of Mexico are bonding again. But unlike independence in 1821 this time it is purely financial.
In a country propelled forward by rapid economic growth but burdened by a mounting population the stretched finances of states and municipalities have been unable to keep up with the country’s infrastructure needs. Tijuana, one of Mexico’s fastest-growing cities, is expanding by 3.2 hectares a day and survives on a meagre budget of $150 million a year. By comparison, San Diego, its sister city just over the border in California, has an annual municipal budget of $2.3 billion. Mexico City faces an annual budget shortfall of some $500 million and improvements in public services in the central state of Morelos have been paralyzed by its $40 million debt. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||