Mexico's Buen Fin shopping begins to boost economy

Shoppers in Mexico are headed to stores as Buen Fin, the Mexican version of Black Friday, is underway to encourage consumption and economic activation.

Analysts have moderate expectations about the effect of "Buen Fin" as the shopping ritual is taking place in a context of accelerating inflation, which reached 6.24% per year in October, the highest rate since the end of 2017.

Still, sales are expected to exceed more than 60% from 2020 when about half of purchases were made online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Loosely translated to the Good End, Buen Fin's shopping officially started on the 10th of November and runs through 16th, and in the midst of accelerating inflation and supply constraints due to the lack of some components that are affecting key sectors such as the automotive sector.

Ana Bertha Gutiérrez, coordinator of international commerce and labor market at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, sees these shopping rituals as fundamental to boost the economy.

"Consumption has been among the slowest to recover, while exports rebounded relatively quickly and other components such as government spending are also going faster in terms of recovery," she said.

"Consumption has been lagging behind and recently in recent months, according to the information we have, it has even seen a decline."