(This Feb. 18 story has been corrected to change the year to 2023, from 2003, in paragraph 8)
By Diego Oré
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Spanish bank Santander will do various investments amounting to over $2 billion in Mexico during the next three years, the company’s Executive Chair Ana Botin said on Tuesday.
Botin made the announcement during an event in Mexico’s capital where the company presented it’s 100% digital bank, Openbank, that is already operating in Mexico.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum announced the amount of the investment without giving further details, after meeting with Botin on Monday.
“We are announcing an investment program over the next three years of more than $2 billion, 42 billion pesos,” Botin said during the event, detailing that the amount will be designated to Openbank, Santander Bank itself and other items.
“Mexico is the country where we see the greatest growth potential,” she said, adding that it is one of the countries where the company is “going to continue investing the most from now on”.
Santander’s announcement marks an increase in the group’s investments in the Latin American Country.
In 2023, Botin met with former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and posted the bank’s commitment to invest around 500 million dollars a year in the country until 2025.
Santander’s Mexican subsidiary is one of the country’s largest banks.
(Reporting by Diego Ore; Aditional reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes; Editing by Sarah Morland)
