MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s economy “could easily” grow more than 5% in 2021 due to the vaccine rollout against COVID-19 and the impact of the United States’ $1.9 trillion stimulus package, Mexico’s Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said on Monday.
Mexico’s economy suffered its steepest recession in almost 90 years in 2020, shrinking by 8.5% in seasonally-adjusted terms, as the coronavirus pandemic battered activity.
Still, Latin America’s no. 2 economy grew quicker than first estimated during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Considering “the GDP level reached in the fourth quarter of 2020, combined with the vaccination campaign and the U.S. fiscal stimulus, the Mexican economy could easily grow above 5.0%,” a presentation by Herrera showed.
Herrera said given the better growth data and improved economic forecasts, he expected higher tax revenues and crude oil prices, as well as for debt levels to start to decrease.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; writing by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Chris Reese)
