The contraction of the Mexican economy registered in the third quarter is focused, said the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Édgar Amador Zamora. He highlighted that the 0.3 percent drop in activity is focused on the industrial sector, which represents just under a fifth of what the country generates, but both agriculture and services maintain “solid growth.”
“We have a contraction of the economy,” he acknowledged at a press conference, when reporting on the Finance and Public Debt reports at the end of the third quarter. However, he considered, this decline is focused on the industrial sector, which represents around 17 percent of economic activity.
“We cannot hide that the data for the third quarter was below our estimates,” but “there is no generalized weakness in the economy,” said the secretary, but he did not make any specific note on whether this fall moves the growth estimate that the Treasury has for this year – which is in a range of 0.5 to 1.5 percent.
Amador Zamora noted that according to advanced data, the Treasury is “confident that there will be a rebound” and at the end of the year the growth of the economy will be “close to the expectations of international organizations,” whose estimates range from 0.5 percent to one percent.
In adjustments to forecasts published in recent weeks, the International Monetary Fund expects growth of one percent this year; the World Bank 0.5 percent; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 0.8 percent, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 0.6 percent.
Rodrigo Mariscal, chief economist of the agency, added that employment indicators show positive results – 820 thousand jobs were created in September – and business and consumer confidence are improving. However, occupied capacity in the manufacturing industry was reduced to 79 percent, from the average 80 percent.