'Mexico's pandemic-hit economy could shrink nearly 9 % in 2020'

Mexico City, Nov 26 (IANS) Mexico's economy could contract 8.9 per cent in 2020, amid a slow recovery in global productivity affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) said in a report.Banxico's economic growth forecast shows gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 3.3 per cent in 2021 and by a more moderate 2.6 per cent in 2022."There remains a high degree of uncertainty about the future evolution of (economic) activity, both nationally and globally," the Governor of Banxico, Alejandro Diaz de Leon, said in a videoconference presenting the report."The baseline scenario assumes a gradual recovery, at a moderate pace, throughout the forecast timeframe, converging to inertial growth by 2022," Diaz said.Diaz added the economic projections are skewed downwards, due to the presence of several risks, such as the possibility of stricter lockdowns due to a resurgence in Covid-19.
--IANS int/