PRESIDENT Enrique Pena Nieto was forced to explain on Sunday evening why his private home was built and is registered under the name of a company connected to a high-speed rail contract that he cancelled last week.

The £4.4 million home in Mexico City’s most exclusive neighbourhood was built and is owned by Ingenieria Inmobiliaria del Centro, a company belonging to Grupo Higa, according an online report by journalist Carmen Aristegui.

Constructora Teya, another Grupo Higa company, was part of a Chinese-led consortium that received the £2.3 billion Mexico-Queretaro high-speed rail contract.

The president had showcased this project as part of his push to modernise transport in the country.

The government released a statement late on Thursday saying that the bidding process would be reopened to give others a chance at the project.

According to the Aristegui article, the modern luxury home has never been declared by Mr Pena Nieto in his assets declarations while those of his wife, former actor Angelica Rivera, are confidential.

The president’s office insisted that Ms Rivera had signed a contract to buy the house almost a year before Mr Pena Nieto took office and independently of her husband.

According to the Aristegui article, Grupo Higa and its affiliates were granted more than $8bn pesos (£377m) in construction projects in Mexico state when Mr Pena Nieto was its governor.

Eolo Plus, an air-charter service owned by Grupo Higa, ferried him and other officials during his 2012 presidential campaign, while a further Grupo Higa company printed campaign materials.