Mexico’s economy continues to perform positively, with growth of 3.6% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, the National Statistics Institute (INEGI) reported.
In comparison with the first quarter of the year, the result was also positive: GDP expansion reached 0.9%, according to the official report.
The services sector, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, registered the best performance at the interannual rate, with an expansion of activity of 4.1%, while the industrial sector grew 2.6% and fishing, agriculture, and livestock grew 2.5%, detailed the INEGI in a statement.
The Mexican economy, in the first quarter of the year, grew 3.7% over the same period in 2022.
“The timely GDP (in its initial measurement) gained 3.6% at an annual rate in the first semester of 2023 and with seasonally adjusted series,” INEGI reported.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador congratulated himself at his morning press conference on these economic data. “We’re good,” he said.
However, for private analysts, despite the accumulation of seven quarters of growth, the situation still does not reflect the potential of the economy.
“Mexico has shown favorable growth in recent quarters, but compared to pre-pandemic levels, GDP expansion is low compared to other countries,” explained analyst Gabriela Siller, from Banco Base, in a report to the press.
Telecommunications specialist group The Competitive Intelligence Unit said in an analysis that while growth in the second quarter was higher than expected, there may still be upheavals.
The reference interest rate remains at a record high of 11.25%, and the Bank of Mexico announced last June its intention to maintain this level “for a long time.”
This monetary policy, which aims to make credit more expensive and thus cool down the economy, seeks to counteract inflation, which, although it has moderated to settle at 5.06% in 12 months, is still above the official target of 3, +/- one percentage point.
Mexico’s GDP expanded 3.1% last year after recording a 5% jump in 2021, explained by a rebound in activity after the productive paralysis in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 31, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico, central) raised its growth forecast for the economy for 2023 to 2.3% from 1.6% previously due to the good performance of activity during the first quarter.
