Mexico may perhaps accept health care package in barter for presidential jet By Reuters

(Reuters) – Mexico’s govt is thinking about a $120 million bid for a magnificent presidential jet after an unidentified future customer made available to shell out section in dollars and portion in professional medical devices, a govt official claimed on Monday.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has produced providing the Boeing (NYSE:) 787 Dreamliner of his predecessor a cornerstone of his campaign for a a lot more frugal federal government.

Previous 7 days he traveled financial state class on a commercial airline to a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Jorge Mendoza, who heads a state-owned improvement bank included in the sale, told a normal information convention the president experienced instructed him not to offload the jet, and other planes and helicopters on sale, for significantly less than their price.

“The offer you is in funds and also a aspect in health-related equipment,” Mendoza explained, including that he could not nonetheless give extra information or discover the buyer for good reasons of confidentiality.

Like a lot of nations, Mexico has been scrambling to supply health care provides together with oxygen, ventilators and masks throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Both of those the United States and China’s governments have served with devices.

The sale of the jet, obtained by previous President Enrique Pena Nieto in 2012 and equipped with marble-lined loos, has tested tricky.

In January, Lopez Obrador mentioned just one prospective customer supplied $125 million. But Mexico could not market it underneath a United Nations-backed valuation of $130 million, he described then.

It was not right away crystal clear why Mexico was now taking into consideration a reduce present, although the aircraft may possibly have diminished in benefit when in storage.

The authorities has independently introduced a raffle aimed at elevating the worth of the airplane in return for income prizes.