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Mexican economy up 2.3 pct in first 9 months of 2008(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mexico City, Nov 22 (EFE).- Mexico's economy grew 2.3 percent in the first nine months of this year relative to the same period of 2007, as growth in the service industry and agriculture partially offset deceleration in the industrial sector, the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, or INEGI, said. The institute said that between January and September the service industry, which makes up roughly 60 percent of the economy, together with the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector, rose 3.2 percent, while growth in the industrial sector came in at just 0.4 percent. Growth in manufacturing has been slowing in recent months because of economic troubles in the United States, by far Mexico's biggest export market. The INEGI, meanwhile, said the nation's gross domestic product grew 1.6 percent in the third quarter relative to the same months of 2007, driven by 4.9 percent growth in agriculture and 2.8 percent growth in the services sector, while manufacturing declined 1.3 percent. That was the weakest quarterly growth rate since 2003 and comes after Mexico's GDP rose 2.8 percent in the second quarter. GDP growth between July and September barely beat the expectations of financial firms, which had forecast a rise of 1.5 percent. They are expecting the economy to grow 1.96 percent for the year. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector grew 4.9 percent between July and September due primarily to growth in agriculture, which reported more area under cultivation. The institute said expansion was mainly due to increased production of wheat, grapes, tomatoes, potatoes, nuts, onions, chili peppers, beans, apples, corn, plantains and mango. In the service industry, the majority of the sub-sectors reported growth: trade (5 percent); real-estate and rental (3.4 percent); telecommunications and media broadcasting (8.5 percent); and professional services (3.5 percent). Also up were the sub-sectors of transport, postal service and storage (which rose 0.9 percent); beverage manufacturing (1.6 percent) and business-support services (up 1.7 percent). By contrast, the industrial sector fell 1.3 percent due to declines in three of its four components: mining, down 6.4 percent; construction, which fell 1.1 percent; and manufacturing, which declined 0.2 percent. The electricity, gas and water sub-sector rose 2.1 percent. After falling 0.3 percent in 2001, Mexico's economy posted annual GDP growth for six straight years. For 2008, the Mexican government has forecast 2 percent growth due to the global financial turmoil and the economic troubles in the United States in particular. EFE jrm/mc Copyright ? 2008 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |