Mexico City, Aug 26 (IANS) Mexico’s economic recovery faced an uncertain environment, coupled with weakening global productive activity in the second quarter, the central bank of Mexico (Banxico) has warned.
According to the minutes of the bank’s latest monetary policy meeting, some members of the Governing Board expressed the belief there were risks to the economy from lower external demand from the US and strong inflationary pressures, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The majority (of the Governing Board) stressed that growth forecasts for the global economy have been downgraded,” the record of the August 11 meeting said, adding “fears of a recession in the near future have been exacerbated.”
Among the risks to the global economy, Banxico listed the Covid-19 pandemic, greater monetary and financial adjustments, and worsening geopolitical tensions.
These factors have led to an environment of uncertainty and risk aversion, according to the board.
The majority of the five-member board noted Mexico’s economic activity continued to recover and figures indicated that in the second quarter of 2022 activity advanced at a similar rate to that of the previous quarter.
Also on Thursday, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) announced the Mexican economy rebounded 2 percent in the second quarter of 2022 year on year.
However, most board members mentioned that various indicators, such as consumer confidence, retail sales and average real income, among others, suggest that private consumption has begun to slow down.
Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded 4.8 per cent in 2021, after plunging 8.2 per cent in 2020, the worst performance since the 1930s, due to the pandemic.
Private analysts consulted by Banxico forecast economic growth of 1.8 per cent for 2022.
This post was last modified on August 26, 2022 8:34 am