Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico rose 1.5% in the first half of the year to US $18.1 billion, preliminary figures show.
The Secretariat of the Economy (SE) said in a statement that investment of US $24.06 billion flowed into the country between January and June, while FDI worth US $5.96 billion was lost.
The net FDI result is $258 million higher than the preliminary investment figure reported for the first six months of 2018, which was $17.84 billion.
The SE said that both reinvestments and new investments contributed to the increase. It stressed that the figures are preliminary and could be subject to adjustments.
The ministry said that the FDI recorded in the first half of the year came from 3,104 companies, 1,558 trust agreements and 18 private foreign investors. Just over three-quarters of the total came from reinvestment and just under one-quarter was new investment.
The United States was the largest FDI source country, contributing 37.9%.
Canada, Spain, Germany and Belgium were the next biggest investors, providing 15.4%, 11.1%, 6.5% and 4.1% respectively. The remaining 25% came from other countries, the SE said.
The manufacturing sector was the largest recipient of foreign investment, attracting 42.8% of the total, or around US $7.75 billion.
The commercial sector attracted 12.9%; the financial and insurance industry got 9.9%; mining drew in 5.9%; the electrical energy, water and gas sector received 5.5%; and the media industry took in 5.4%.
A government official said in March that Mexico needs to attract $35 billion to $40 billion annually to stimulate growth.
The release of the FDI data came four days after the Bank of México cut interest rates for the first time in five years, citing slowing economic growth and lower inflation.
The bank said in a statement that it is important to “promote the adoption of measures that foster an environment of confidence and certainty for investment.”
The Mexican economy narrowly avoided entering into a technical recession after recording growth of just 0.1% in the second quarter of 2019. The economy contracted 0.2% in the first quarter.
Source: El Economista (sp)
