LatinNews Daily - 13 September 2024

*Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) has published a downbeat report on the state of the economy across the country’s regions in the second quarter of this year, highlighting a continuation of “the clear weakness that has been seen in Mexico’s economic activity since the end of 2023”. Economic activity increased by just 0.2% in the second quarter of the year, up from 0.1% in the first quarter. Banxico attributed this to “the lethargy of industrial activity and the loss of dynamism in services”. Nationally, there were quarterly contractions in manufacturing (-0.2%), mining (-1.5%), and tourism (-0.7%). The report highlights a quarterly contraction in construction in the north (-0.6%) and centre-north (-2.8%); a drop in mining production in the south (-2.6%); a drop in agricultural production in Mexico’s centre (-2.3%) and centre-north (-3.0%); and a drop in tourism in the centre-north (-0.4%), centre (-1.0%), and south (-1.1%).