Friday, March 19, 2010 | Press Release

Mexico City. The favorable results registered by the Mexican economy show that its recovery is on track, declared Finance Secretary Ernesto Cordero Arroyo, who said that this is borne out by the fact that private sector analysts have suggested that Mexico's GDP may grow by over 5%. In a joint media statement with Secretaries of Labor, Javier Lozano Alarcón; and the Economy, Gerardo Ruiz Mateos and Daniel Karam Toumeh, Director General of IMSS.

Cordero Arroyo also reported that the balance of international reserves on March 12, 2010 was $94.8 billion USD, $9.5 billion USD higher than the figure recorded on December 31, 2008.

He added that at the close of March 18, Mexico's country risk was 2.9 percentage points lower than in 2009.

“The Mexican Economy is obviously on the path to economic recovery. Growth estimates are being continuously revised upwards by national and international analysts in both government and the private sector," he said.

For his part, Secretary Javier Lozano highlighted the evolution of employment. During the first half of March, the number of new workers affiliated to the Mexican Social Security Institute reached 69,781. This means that 234,255 new jobs were created between January 1 and March 15.

It is also important to note that this figure of 234,255 net new jobs created in the formal economy means that all the net jobs lost in 2009, totaling 181,271, have been recovered. It also recovers the net number of jobs lost in 2008, totaling 37,535," he explained.

He added that on March 15 the number of both permanent and temporary workers affiliated to the IMSS totaled 14,115,536.

Lastly, Secretary Gerardo Ruiz reported that in order to boost firms’ productivity and competitiveness, by the end of 2009, over 77 billion pesos in financing were provided for PyMES, benefitting 85,000 firms that employ over 1,200,000 persons.

“Our aim is to promote underlying changes in our country's productive structure, to construct a more competitive economy, capable of continuing the investment we need and creating the jobs all Mexicans require," he said.