HIGHLIGHTS: Interview with Mexico central banker
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Following are highlights from Reuters interview with Mexican central bank Gov. Guillermo Ortiz on Friday:
ON GLOBAL ECONOMY:
"There is a sensation that we have probably touched bottom in this crisis. Going forward, things could look better, and we can see this from the financial side through the reduction in the spreads that indicate aversion to risk.
"Without losing sight of the fact that production at the global level is going to remain depressed and of the important hit taken by the American consumer, who finally is the consumer of last resort, at least we no longer have the feeling of freefall."
ON MEXICO ECONOMIC GROWTH:
"Sequentially, we will probably see a recovery by the third quarter -- GDP growth in the third (quarter) with respect to the second. However, in annual terms we will see a drop in the third quarter.
"I am expecting that a rebound in orders by the manufacturing industry, including the automotive, etc. could begin to be felt by the next quarter.
"Simply put, I think that we have firm signs that we will see a better second half compared to what we saw in the first half" of 2009.
ON INFLATION:
"The fact that (the exchange rate) has stabilized and we also have a big unutilized capacity, a drop in demand, should reduce inflation in the future."
ON AUCTIONS OF SHORT-TERM DOLLAR DEBT FROM FED LINE:
"We are carrying out a poll with banks that participated to see if there is interest to carry out a second offer, a second auction.
"It's palpable that the issue of dollar financing for corporates has improved with respect to the situation one month ago."
ON SWINE FLU OUTBREAK IN MEXICO:
"The issue of the virus fortunately appears to be turning out less serious than was first thought. The economic life in the country is returning to normal.
"The most affected sectors are tourism and aviation and this will have a negative impact on GDP, but I think that there will be a rebound soon. The experience that we had with similar episodes in Asia indicates that it is a question of weeks or months."
