XINHUA

Mexico’s economy continues to face risks that dampen its growth outlook, but there is the chance of a modest economic recovery in 2020, the central Bank of Mexico (Banxico) said in a press release.

According to the details of the latest meeting of the bank’s five-member governing board, “the majority of the members indicated that in an environment marked by uncertainty, the balance of risks to growth continues” to point “downwards.”

Among the external and internal risks to the economy, the board mentioned pending legislative approval of the new North American free trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) still needs to be passed by the U.S. Senate and Canada’s parliament before it can take effect, and most observers expect that to happen sometime in 2020.

In late November, the bank downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2019 to between -0.2 and 0.2 percent from the previous projection of 0.2 to 0.7 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP).

For 2020, expected growth was adjusted to 0.8 to 1.8 percent.