Mexico's economy contracts by historic 17.1% in second quarter

[August 26, 2020]  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) posted its sharpest drop on record in the second quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic pounded Latin America's second largest economy, data from the national statistics agency showed on Wednesday.

GDP fell 17.1% in April to June, from the previous three-month period in a seasonally adjusted terms. In annual terms, the economy contracted 18.7% in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.

Measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, which has infected 568,621 people and killed 61,450 in Mexico, shut factories, kept shoppers and tourists at home and upended trade.

A breakdown of the seasonally adjusted quarterly data showed primary activities slipped 2.0%, secondary activities plummeted 23.4% and tertiary activities contracted 15.1%.

Primary activities include farming and fishing, secondary activities consider manufacturing, mining and construction, and tertiary activities cover retail and the services sector.

Mexico's economy is forecast to contract by as much as 10.5% this year, in what the finance ministry and the central bank have said would be its worst recession since the 1930s Great Depression.

Fiscally conservative President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has resisted pressure to borrow to fund an economic stimulus package, while picking fights with businesses that have chilled the investment climate.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama)

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