Mexico's balance of payments 1970–1983: Contributions of international tourism and border transactions

The Mexican government instigated a series of programmes to redress its rapidly deteriorating balance of payments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Devaluations of the peso were aimed at improving foreign exchange earnings from international tourism and border transactions, particularly with the USA. Although the net foreign exchange earned by these two sectors increased in 1982 and 1983, neither sector improved its net balance of real income and expenditure between 1975 and 1982. The impact of the devaluations, combined with depressed economic conditions in North America and Western Europe, affected both the inflow and outflow of international travellers and their level of expenditure, and limited real contribution to Mexico's balance of payments problems.