Although Mexico’s economy is still backward in many respects, we are catching up face with more developed countries. Consider, for instance, these figures: before 1940, per capita gross national product amounted to less than seventy dollars; in 1966, less than thirty years later, it jumped to about 500 dollars. Population, in the meantime, rose from less than twenty million to about 43 million. Despite the fact that agriculture as a whole did not lag appreciably, industry was by far the main daring force and in the last twenty-seven years the volume of industrial production increased six-fold; last year, industry’s share in the economy was rapidly approaching the 40% mark. Simultaneously, the commercial sector, as well as other services, such as the banking community, became more efficient, more sophisticated, providing a much needed support for the other activities. Price stability, particularly in later years, has been awarded the highest priority and it is significant that, for nearly thirteen years now, the Mexican peso has been stable in the foreign exchange markets. Moreover, we have stuck rigidly to free convertibility, a long-lived tradition since the inception of our country. This is uncommon, even among developed nations, many of which still have exchange controls of one sort of another. It is significant that one of the main economic powers in Europe established full convertibility only a few weeks ago.
