The Mexican economy is in solid recovery from crisis in the last two years and growth is expected to reach 4.3 percent for 2011, an economist said Wednesday.
"We are seeing a very dynamic economy and a clear recovery, even though the risk generated by outside influences, especially that from the debt problems in the European Union region, persists," said Rafael Gonzalez, a senior economist at the Mexican Finance Ministry.
"We expect we will maintain strong economic growth in 2011. Last year we had economic growth of 5.5 percent and this year we expect to see growth of 4.3 percent," Gonzalez told Xinhua in an interview.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on sustainable development and renewable energy held by the Council of Americas, Latin America's largest private forum on education, social and economic development.
Gonzalez said annual consumer inflation in Mexico during the first quarter of 2011 reached 3.04 percent, unchanged from the same period in 2010, and overall 2011 inflation is expected to stay between 3 percent and 4 percent.
"The pressure on inflation has been totally contained. The prices for raw materials in Mexico have been completely consistent with this and what we have been seeing lately is a diminution of the increase in international prices so there won't be any problem from rising food prices," he said.
Job creation is also showing a strong recovery in Mexico, with a 3.3-percent increase in new jobs since 2008.
Industrial production and exports by the automobile industry have also recovered with the current internal demand 16 percent higher than the pre-crisis level. Exports have also picked up.
At the same time, Mexican labor has also managed to balance most of its competitive advantages against China with labor costs in assembly and manufacturing today only 15 percent higher than those in China.
"When we are looking at all the indicators we are the best positioned economy in the Latin American region," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez also said Mexico's overall debt is being reduced slowly and the government is expecting overall public debt to drop to a third of the GDP by 2015.