MEXICO: IMF Increases GDP Growth Estimate To 1.9% In 2017

(RTTNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised Mexico's economic growth outlook for 2017 to 1.9%, from 1.7% in its April. Estimates for 2018 point to a 2.0% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to Alejandro Werner, IMF's Director for the Western Hemisphere Department, the Mexican economy "shows short-term resilience in a period of uncertainty regarding future trade relations with the United States, which partly reflects the strength of the macroeconomic policy framework."

Meanwhile, future restrictive monetary policy "could moderate private consumption, and uncertainty will continue to curb private investment due to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which will begin at the end of August," he added.

According to the IMF, the full implementation of a structural reform program by the Mexican government, which includes anti-corruption measures, would boost GDP's growth potential.