Mexican economy slows down, no signs of recession: financial agency

MEXICO CITY, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's economy is slowing down but shows no signs of a recession, the Mexican Institute of Financial Executives (IMEF) said Tuesday.

During a press conference, the IMEF head Fernando Lopez said the slowdown in the country is largely due to global factors, mentioning a similar trend in U.S. economy growth.

"These international factors are causing the economy, not only Mexico's, to experience a slowdown ... but at this moment, we don't see an economic recession scenario," he said.

"We knew it would be a year of low growth, we knew a slowdown in the U.S. economy was coming after ten consecutive years of economic growth," he added.

Other events that are affecting global productivity are trade tensions on a global level and Brexit discussions, he said.

Members of the IMEF forecast that Mexico's economy could grow 1.5 percent this year. The forecasts for 2020 were downgraded to 1.80 percent from last month's forecast of 1.95 percent.

Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America following Brazil, grew 2 percent in 2018. The Mexican government forecasts similar growth for this year.