(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s government will soon present to lawmakers a long-awaited stock market reform bill that aims to help spur more listings in the local stock market, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio said on Friday.

“We are at the stage of reading the political timing to send this to congress,” Yorio told Bloomberg News in an interview on the sidelines of the country’s annual banking convention in Merida, adding that they expect to submit the proposal in the second quarter of the year. 

Yorio said the bill would include streamlined regulations to make it easier to list companies and debt, as well as allow for dual-class shares to entice family-controlled companies to go public. Intentions to present the bill, which was first announced early last year, would also modify regulations to create a new legal framework for hedge funds, he said.

Mexico has not had a major initial public offering in over five years and it has far less equity-focused funds than other emerging markets such as Brazil, where local hedge funds have become important market players. The proposal seeks to reverse the trend amid frustration of investors and market participants who have watched Mexico fall behind similar countries. 

Read More: Mexico Stock Market Is So Dead That Buyouts Are the Only Action 

Separately, Yorio said that the government would post this year a primary deficit of between zero and 0.5% of gross domestic product, slightly better than in 2022, as the Ministry tries to reduce the impact of higher interest rates on public finances.

“We are already thinking of starting to carry out liability managements from short to longer term in order to capture lower rates at the long end,” Yorio said.

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