Mexico on Monday raised its economic growth outlook, saying it performed better than expected in the first quarter, despite fears it would suffer from US President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
The Mexican Ministry of the Economy upgraded its forecast for this year to indicate growth of between 1.5 and 2.5 percent, from an earlier range of 1.3 to 2.3 percent.
“The economy’s resistance to external shocks was reflected in a better-than-expected performance in the first quarter, which prompts an upwards revision of the private sector growth outlook,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said the economy grew by 0.7 percent in the first three months of this year compared with the previous quarter, driven mainly by the farming and services sectors.
Economists had warned that Mexico’s economy could suffer from Trump coming to office after the US president vowed during campaigning to renegotiate his country’s major trade ties with Mexico.
Talks on overhauling the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada are expected to start in August.
Analysts remained cautious, despite Monday’s data.
Analyst Joan Domene of Mexican bank Invex said in a note that the country still faced “uncertainty about the future of its trade relations with the United States.”
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