FinObservatory

Crisis atlas / MEX / 1981–1998

Mexico, 1981–1998

One crisis episode: distinct crisis years merged across gaps of up to two non-crisis years. Types, source agreement, and macro context are drawn from the union of five primary chronologies.

BankingCurrencySovereign debt

Crisis years in this episode

Every distinct (year, type) event inside the 1981–1998 window, with the chronologies flagging it and the count of agreeing sources. Start-year sources (GMD, JST) mark only the first year, so agreement falls in the continuation years.

  1. 1981
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  2. 1982
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  3. 1983
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  4. 1984
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  5. 1985
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  6. 1986
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  7. 1987
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  8. 1988
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  9. 1989
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  10. 1990
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  11. 1991
    Bankingrr1 source
  12. 1993
    Bankingrr1 source
  13. 1994
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
  14. 1995
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  15. 1996
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
  16. 1997
    Bankingrr1 source
  17. 1998
    Currencyrr1 source

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Laeven-Valencia banking-crisis detail

Episode-level fiscal cost and output loss from the systemic banking crises database. Fiscal cost is the gross outlay of banking-sector rescues; output loss is the cumulative deviation of real GDP from its pre-crisis trend, both as a percent of GDP.

Banking episode 1981–1985
Not reported
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
26.6%
Output loss, % of GDP
1985
Episode end year
Banking episode 1994–1996
19.3%
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
13.7%
Output loss, % of GDP
1996
Episode end year

Source: Laeven & Valencia (2026), IMF WP/26/94, Systemic Banking Crises Database 1970-2025 Methodology

Macro context, 1974–2005

Seven years either side of the episode. Each panel has its own scale; the crisis window is shaded. Only indicators with data for Mexico in this window are shown. Bank credit growth (year over year in total loans) is available for the 18 Jordà-Schularick-Taylor advanced economies.

Inflation (% y/y)
050100150197419812005
Real GDP growth (% y/y)
-10010197419812005
Policy rate (%)
0204060197419812005
Govt debt (% of GDP)
0204060197419812005
Unemployment (%)
02.557.5197419812005
Current account (% of GDP)
-10-505197419812005

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 (credit) Real GDP growth is derived as the year-over-year change in real GDP; current account and government debt are percent of GDP; policy rate is the central-bank rate; bank credit growth is the year-over-year change in JST total loans. Methodology

How each source dates this episode

The chronologies disagree on start years and durations. This table is generated from the event rows, not curated: it lists, per crisis type, which source flags which years inside the window.

Banking
  • Global Macro Database1981, 1994
  • Laeven-Valencia1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
Currency
  • Global Macro Database1982, 1995
  • Laeven-Valencia1982, 1995
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998
Sovereign debt
  • Global Macro Database1982, 1990
  • Laeven-Valencia1982, 1990
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Documented policy responses

8 interventions from the Metrick-Schmelzing banking-crisis database whose recorded year falls inside this episode window (1981–1998). Each row is one documented government or central-bank action, tagged with the database’s own intervention categories and short code, under the crisis code it assigns. Matching is exact: same country, intervention year inside the window. The database’s global-crisis rows (no country) are never matched here.

MEX-1981Mexico
  1. Sep-1982Capital injectionsBBCI
MEX-1990Mexico
  1. Jul-1990Asset managementBBAM
MEX-1992Mexico
  1. Dec-1992Regulatory forbearance / rulesORL
MEX-1994Mexico
  1. Dec-1994LendingBBEL
  2. Dec-1994RestructuringRES
  3. Sep-1994Capital injectionsAHCI
  4. Dec-1994Capital injectionsBBCI
  5. Dec-1994LendingBBEL

Source: Metrick-Schmelzing Banking-Crisis Interventions Database (Yale Program on Financial Stability) Cite as: Metrick, Andrew, and Paul Schmelzing, "Banking-Crisis Interventions Across Time and Space," working paper, 2024 (dataset consulted 2026-07-10). License: Creative Commons attribution. Methodology

Policy-response case studies (external)

For qualitative accounts of how authorities intervened in systemic crises, see the Yale Program on Financial Stability New Bagehot Project, a library of financial-crisis intervention case studies. It is a separate qualitative resource; no specific case is asserted to match this episode.