By IANS/EFE,
Acapulco (Mexico) : Mexico’s economy, which contracted by 6.5 percent in 2009, will grow 5 percent this year, thanks to the solid recovery that is underway, a bankers’ association said in a report.
The drop in the value of the peso against the dollar and other currencies in 2009, combined with higher transportation costs and an increase in the cost of skilled labour, “have caused a large number of automakers and auto parts companies to reassign production of these products from other countries to Mexico”, the Mexican Bankers Association, or ABM, said.
“It is probable that the Mexican economy could grow nearly 5 percent this year,” the ABM said in a report released at the 73rd Banking Convention, held Thursday-Friday in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco.
The bankers association, however, said consumer spending had not shown “a considerable recovery” and even though Mexico was in good shape to deal with the 2008-09 financial meltdown, “the Mexican economy continues dealing with practically the same challenges as before the crisis”.
Mexico will not have a full recovery unless structural reforms are implemented in key industries, targeting industrial organisation and labour, the ABM said.
The country needs “an adequate channelling of investment that will allow not just a recovery, but real growth in well-paid employment and the strengthening of consumer spending”, the bankers association said.
Mexico’s banking industry was put to the test by the financial crisis after several years of consolidation, the ABM said.
“Now, it is ready to continue improving its role as a promoter of growth,” providing the financial resources that will be the “spark for real economic development in Mexico”, the Mexican Bankers Association said.