MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week he hopes Mexican investors buy the local subsidiary of Citigroup.
In a post on social media, the president said that "we would like this bank to be Mexicanized," contending that foreign bankers often take profits abroad rather than re-invest them in Mexico.
The U.S. banking giant Citigroup said early last week it would sell its Citibanamex retail banking operations in Mexico as part of a worldwide strategy to focus on the corporate market.
Lopez Obrador's comment is likely to draw scrutiny, given his sometimes close, sometimes troubled relations with two Mexican business magnates.
One, retail and banking magnate Ricardo Salinas Pliego, wrote in his Twitter account he was weighing a bid for the bank. Salinas Pliego already runs the smaller Banco Azteca.
"I have always believed in and invested in Mexico and Mexicans," Salinas Pliego wrote. "For that reason, I have asked my team to analyze the advisability of acquiring Citibanamex, and doubling down my bet on Mexico, Mexicans and their future."
But many doubt Salinas Pliego could raise the $12 billion to $15 billion that analysts think Citibanamex might cost.
The president made his remarks about Citibanamex in a video posted to his social media accounts. Lopez Obrador has been absent from his usual morning news briefings while he recovers from covid-19, and has been posting videos from his office instead.
Lopez Obrador said he was recovering and had never had serious symptoms, claiming "this variant has very light symptoms. It's the equivalent of a cold." Officials have suggested, but not confirmed, he has the omicron variant.