Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, expressed his optimism regarding the recovery of the country’s economy from July. “The official reports of economic growth will reflect the fall of April, May and June, but I can already say with confidence that we are beginning to recover economically,” said the president during a press conference.
Recently, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of that country (Inegi) published the first data of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico: GDP fell 19.9% in April in relation to the same month of 2019, the Global Indicator of Economic Activity (IGAE) showed a decrease of 17.3% between March and April, and industrial activity fell 25.1% in the same period.
About the future of the employment rate in Mexico, the President was also positive. “We closed June with only 82,000 jobs lost in those enrolled in social security, when 550,000 were lost in April, that is, we are hitting bottom and we are going to go up,” said López Obrador. This information refers to data from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) that account for the loss of around one million formal jobs between April and May.
T-MEC drives economic recovery
“We must take advantage of the economic benefits of our neighborhood,” was the message from the Mexican president regarding the recent entry into force of the new free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, T-MEC. According to López Obrador, being a neighbor of the strongest economy on the planet in the current circumstances of global recession, will help Mexico boost its productivity and create new jobs.
“It is a fact that the Agreement will attract more foreign investment for the export industry; More business opportunities will be created for entrepreneurs and merchants, as well as better paying jobs for the benefit of technicians and professionals with high academic levels. This, in addition to the generation of jobs for women and men in the Bajío region and in the north of the country, should be taken into account that three million workers currently work in the maquiladora plants and that, of these, one million belongs to the automotive industry, “said the President of Mexico.
According to the president, his administration’s strategies will allow a quick recovery of the economy and that good results are already beginning to be seen. The head of the Mexican government referred to data from the Tax Administration System (SAT), according to which, from January to June, the income of the main self-service stores in the country (Walmart, Oxxo, Soriana, Chedraui and others), totaled 564 billion pesos, a figure higher by 59 billion in relation to the same period of 2019; that is, they sold 8.8 percent more in real terms.
