IMF urges Mexico to open up Pemex to cooperation with private firms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday recommended that Mexico reconsider its position of limiting private companies' cooperation with state-owned oil company Pemex, whose debt is weighing heavily on the government's finances. The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has ended the tenders seeking

partners for Pemex implemented under his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto. Instead, Lopez Obrador has favored service contracts, which give the government more control over projects. "The mission recommends reconsidering these decisions as they place the onus of stabilizing Pemex squarely on the government," the IMF said in a statement after a mission visit to Mexico in September.