Mexico's gross domestic product has stagnated in two successive quarters after having recorded 21 quarters of uninterrupted growth. But economists say that this is only a temporary setback, and that the country's economy will be on the road to growth again.
Dr Heinz Mewes, chief economist at Dresdner Bank Lateinamerika, expects a recovery in the fourth quarter. The bank has revised downwards its forecast for the year.
Dr Mewes told the South China Morning Post: 'For the whole year, we expect a growth rate of about 1 per cent, after nearly 7 per cent in 2000.
'Only after an economic recovery in the United States, probably in the fourth quarter, do we expect the economy to grow at higher rates again.'
Mexico's economy has run out of steam, largely because the US economic engine has stopped humming.
'Mexico is highly dependent on the US economy. More than 85 per cent of Mexican exports go to the US,' Dr Mewes said.