Publication

Mexico began to open up its economy in the 1980s when collapsing petroleum prices and rising international interest rates made its import-substitution economic model - characterized by high levels of protectionism and strong state participation - untenable. In the aftermath of an international debt crisis, the government embarked on a series of unilateral measures, eliminating import licensing and reducing tariffs. In the early 1990s, the government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari embarked on a series of privatizations, including telecommunications, steel, railroads, airlines, shipbuilding, electricity and natural gas distribution, and insurance and the entire banking system - over nine hundred sales in total.