Mexico is currently in the research phase, according to reporting in El Sol de Mexico. This research has largely involved determining the legal, administrative, and technical requirements of issuing and maintaining a CBDC. The Bank of Mexico said this initial phase also involved determining a budget. Prior statements suggested that Mexico’s CBDC would be ready by 2024, but it is unclear if this timeline is still realistic. Furthermore, it is still unclear what shape the CBDC will take if the government still moves ahead.

Mexico earned a 60 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. Although problems are widespread within Mexico, many do not relate directly to the issuance or use of a CBDC. With that said, corruption in Mexico is very much a concern as a CBDC could exacerbate this issue.

Corruption has been seen across multiple levels of government in recent years. The U.S. Department of State reports that officials on federal commissions, officials in agencies, and governors have faced investigations for corruption. Likewise, Freedom House reported that “Despite Mexico’s relatively comprehensive anticorruption framework, implementation of existing mechanisms is lacking in practice and high levels of impunity persist.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.