International Business

MEXICAN STOCKS

* Mexico’s hard-currency reserves rose 1% during the week ended Friday to $13.54 billion from $13.36 billion on Aug. 18. The central bank also said that reserves have risen from $3.48 billion at the end of January. In December, dwindling reserves were behind the move to devalue the peso.

* A plan to assist Mexican borrowers paying high interest charges will worsen credit problems at Mexican banks, Standard & Poor’s said Wednesday. The debtors assistance program will put a cap on the interest rates banks charge customers on existing loans. Loan rates have soared as a result of the economic crisis that followed the currency devaluation.

The Bolsa Index

Wednesday closes: 2,480.9

Source: Bloomberg Business News

SPOTLIGHT: SOUTH KOREA

In 1963, 63% of the labor force worked in agriculture. Today, South Korea--producer of 10% of the world’s semiconductors--has the 12th-largest global economy. Reforms passed under President Kim Young Sam have catalyzed economic growth, but recent political unrest could threaten the nation’s financial future.

Source: Bank of America World Information Services