[snips]
Poverty is rising again after a sustained period of decline since 1997. In 2006, 43 percent of the population was living below the poverty line, according to the state National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL).
In the first quarter of the year, GDP shrank by 8.2 percent compared to the same period in 2008 - the sharpest decline since 1995. This was the third consecutive quarter of economic contraction, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) announced Wednesday.
Furthermore, employment figures have plummeted, industrial and tourism activity have fallen, exports have dropped, and tax revenues have shrunk, which the authorities say will cause a two percent deficit in state finances this year.
The outbreak of swine flu that began in April in Mexico further exacerbated the economic problems.
In the present crisis Mexico's future looks less promising, because the economy of the United States, its main trading partner, is expected to contract by 2.8 percent this year and 0.05 percent in 2010, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund.
Full article: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46957
Poverty is rising again after a sustained period of decline since 1997. In 2006, 43 percent of the population was living below the poverty line, according to the state National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL).
In the first quarter of the year, GDP shrank by 8.2 percent compared to the same period in 2008 - the sharpest decline since 1995. This was the third consecutive quarter of economic contraction, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) announced Wednesday.
Furthermore, employment figures have plummeted, industrial and tourism activity have fallen, exports have dropped, and tax revenues have shrunk, which the authorities say will cause a two percent deficit in state finances this year.
The outbreak of swine flu that began in April in Mexico further exacerbated the economic problems.
In the present crisis Mexico's future looks less promising, because the economy of the United States, its main trading partner, is expected to contract by 2.8 percent this year and 0.05 percent in 2010, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund.
Full article: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46957