Mexico City, Sep 1 (IANS) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador touted his government’s handling of the Covid-19 and economic crises, saying it has brought them under control without raising public-sector debt.
“We believe we are doing well in attending to the two crises: where the pandemic is concerned, despite all the pain it has inflicted, we are making progress little by little, but we are coming out of this nightmare,” Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying in a briefing on Monday.
“Likewise economically. I would even say that we have done better there in terms of the strategy that was applied.”
Hopefully, he said, the economy will see a type “V” recovery with a strong rebound instead of a type “L” recovery marked by prolonged stagnation.
To curb spending, his administration allocated available funds toward the most vulnerable population, with the support of remittances sent by Mexicans abroad, which this year could reach a record $40 billion, said Lopez Obrador.
Unlike other countries grappling with pandemic unemployment, Mexico decided not to raise its level of public debt to access more resources.
“We have healthy public finances,” said the President.
Last week, Banxico, the country’s central bank, warned the country faces a “high degree of uncertainty” that could lead the economy to shrink this year between 8.8 per cent and 12.8 per cent.
Mexico has reported 64,158 deaths from Covid-19 and 595,841 cases of infection since detecting its first case on February 28.
Mexico has the world’s eighth-largest outbreak and fourth-highest death toll, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
–IANS
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