For Mexico, Moderate Gains

The Conference Board's leading economic index for Mexico increased eight-tenths of a percentage point in January, the most recent month for which data are available. Moderate economic growth is expected to continue for several months.

The leading index for Mexico now stands at 156.9 (1990=100). January's gain follows two consecutive months of small declines.

Inflation-adjusted GDP in Mexico was at an annual rate of 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005, and "despite short-term volatility, the recent behavior of the leading index suggests that moderate economic growth is likely to continue in the near term," says the Conference Board, a New York-based business research

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006