Mecanismos de control monetario en el Porfiriato (1892-1908)

In the context of the depreciation of silver in the last decades of the 19th century and the limitations of a liberal regime, the Porfirian government had to make decisions in the monetary sphere to deal with the possible effects that this could have on the Mexican economy. The government then set in motion several monetary control mechanisms, such as the progressive recovery of the mints and the centralization of their management in a single institution; control over the issuance of banknotes and supervision of the banking system once the plurality banking system was established in 1897; and, finally, the change in the monetary standard in 1905. The development of monetary policy during the Porfiriato underwent a process that moved from the dispersion to the concentration of powers in the Secretaría de Hacienda, with the support of private institutions—such as the Banco Nacional de México—and the creation of agencies under its command, such as the Foreign Exchange and Currency Commission. These actions tended to consolidate monetary authority in the executive branch, making them an important precedent for understanding the process of central bank formation in Mexico.