Mexican economy shrinks faster; peso too weak -IMF

[Joanne98]

MEXICO CITY, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy is slowing faster than expected and will probably shrink by more than 0.3 percent this year as the U.S. recession slams Mexican exports, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

"Recently released data on developments in late 2008 suggest the Mexican economy is slowing faster than we anticipated," Vikram Haksar, the IMF's mission chief to Mexico, said in a statement.

The IMF forecast in January that Mexico's economy would contract 0.3 percent this year but Haksar said the IMF would likely provide a new forecast soon.

He said in a conference call from Washington the estimated contraction would be roughly 1 percentage point more than the IMF's current view if it factored in a recent Mexican government estimation of contraction in fourth-quarter 2008 growth.

http://www.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idUSN1353253220090213

[Bigmack]

1. I read this as

three tenths of a percent....which ain't a hell of a lot..... Ms Bigmack