1st-Quarter Economic Growth in Mexico Holds Steady Gabriel Stargardter - Reuters
go to original May 22, 2017

Sacks of different varieties of corn grain are displayed at a market in Mexico City (Reuters/Henry Romero)

Increased farm output and services led Mexico's economy to grow at the same clip in the first quarter as in the previous three-month period, shrugging off fears that Donald Trump's presidency would quickly cause havoc to Mexican exports and investment.

The country's gross domestic product grew at a rate of 0.7 percent, the same pace as in the fourth quarter, according to seasonally adjusted data from national statistics agency INEGI on Monday.

The election of Donald Trump last year raised the specter of recession in Mexico as he threatened to shred the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pursue policies that could hurt the Mexican economy. This sent the country's peso into a tailspin and prompted some economists to lower growth forecasts.

Nonetheless, slow progress in starting NAFTA talks and an overall softening of rhetoric about U.S. companies that invest in Mexico have calmed nerves for now.

Compared with the first quarter of 2016, GDP expanded 2.8 percent.

Read the rest at Reuters

Related: Mexico’s Retail Sales Exceed Expectations in March (The Financial Times)

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