The S&P ratings firm announced Monday that it will be fully implementing its national scale rating methodology in Mexico by basing how it assigns creditworthiness mostly on factors within the country.
While S&P has been assigning ratings in Mexico for over 30 years, the adoption of new tools will help improve its ratings by gathering a more accurate understanding of the current conditions of the unique Mexican credit environment.
“What we are doing is launching methodologies adapted to the reality of the national market,” S&P Global Ratings for Latin America’s commercial leader, María Pérez Cavallazzi, said in an interview.
“The goal is to open opportunities for new companies to obtain ratings and, thereby, strengthen the country’s competitiveness.”
The new approach will use localized criteria, including national regulations and the specific dynamics of the Mexican market. It is expected to boost transparency and make it clearer for issuers, structurers, agents and advisers to understand the main factors used to establish each evaluation.
Using the name S&P National Ratings, the company’s strategy for Latin America — which includes Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay — is to establish independent criteria for each country, which will help reduce dependence on global factors that do not necessarily reflect the reality of the domestic market.
Research will be conducted by local analytical teams with a high understanding of each country’s economic context.
“This allows us to more accurately reflect the conditions in Mexico and adapt to changes without compromising the highest international standards,” Pérez said.
S&P National Ratings actualiza sus metodologías en México 🇲🇽
Con más de 30 años de presencia, la firma busca reflejar con mayor fidelidad el entorno crediticio local y abrir oportunidades para nuevas empresas.#SPGlobalRatings #México #MercadoFinanciero #Innovación…— El Financiero (@ElFinanciero_Mx) November 10, 2025
An important feature of the national scale rating methodology is that its findings are not transferable. What is a factor in Argentina is not necessarily a factor in Mexico, and vice versa.
Mexico keeps BBB and BBB+ ratings
On Sept. 8, S&P Global Ratings announced it would be maintaining its “BBB” long-term foreign currency and “BBB+” long-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on Mexico, stating that the outlook remains stable.
S&P expects Mexico’s public finances to stabilize this year despite low economic growth, following several years of prudent monetary policy and growing domestic capital markets.
The Sheinbaum administration is expected to be pragmatic as it manages disputes between Mexico and the United States on trade, immigration and other matters to sustain economic stability, said S&P.
The firm said that under the downside scenario, failure to reduce fiscal deficits fast enough, weaker public finances, and the risk of further extraordinary support to the state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos and the Federal Electricity Commission could lead to a downgrade in the next two years.
Under the upside scenario, S&P could raise Mexico’s rating if effective political and economic management increases investment and raises Mexico’s low rate of per capita economic growth.
With reports from El Financiero
