Mexico awaits growth figures amid recession concerns

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Mexico's national statistic agency on Wednesday will announce growth figures for the first half of 2019 amid recession concerns.

The Inegi will publish a preliminary estimate for the gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter at 6 a.m. (1100GMT) after the economy shrank 0.2% quarter-on-quarter between January and March.

On Monday, the country's Finance Minister Arturo Herrera announced a 485-billion-peso ($25.4 billion) stimulus package which is expected to boost Mexico's ailing economy

"Two-thirds of that amount -- 320 billion pesos (nearly $16.8 billion) -- will be spent on 1.2 million credits to support investment and consumption, 116 billion pesos ($6.08 billion) will be used to accelerate spending on contracts by bringing forward purchases of goods and services that had been scheduled for 2020 and about 50 billion pesos ($2.62 billion) will go to infrastructure projects," Herrera told a news conference, the Mexico News Daily reported.

He added that a range of public-private projects would be included in the package.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Abrador is under fire at home over a migrant detention deal signed between his government and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on June 7 to reduce the immigration flow and avoid U.S. tariffs.

This latest move is expected to salvage the dwindling reputation of the government.

The Mexican Finance Ministry said in a statement that the state bank would also provide credits to more than 130,000 small and medium-sized businesses and 370,000 micro-businesses.