Mexico's GDP shows weak economy

Mexican gross domestic product “did not show any variation” during the second quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter, according to data released Friday from the national statistics agency Mexican Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). 

Preliminary data released in July said the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1 percent from April to June. The data show Latin America’s second-largest economy just avoided a recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline.

According to GDP figures, Mexico’s economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the last quarter of 2018.

In an online report by Reuters, a CI Banco analyst is quoted as saying, “This confirms the economic stagnation in Mexico during the first half of 2019.”

While President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador still predicts the economy will grow by 2 percent this year, he said, “we’re concerned about growth, but we’re more concerned about development” in a recent news briefing.

In the Reuters report, a Goldman Sachs researcher predicted real GDP growth will decline just 0.6 percent in 2019 compared with 2 percent in 2018 and the average 2.7 percent from 2011 to 2018.

The ratification of the new United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) deal, along with additional investments that the government is working on, would help boost the economy in Mexico.