Economic Growth Forecast Cut to 3.5%

Mexico’s Finance Ministry cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 3.5% after manufacturers hit a soft patch because of weaker U.S. demand and a slump in agricultural output.

Alejandro Werner, the ministry’s chief economist, said the economy would pick up pace in the second half of the year but gross domestic product growth would be less than earlier forecasts of 3.8%.

Mexico’s economy grew a tame 3.1% in the second quarter, way below forecasts, as farming output fell and weak U.S. demand hit Mexico’s car and truck plants. Volumes of auto exports fell 6.5% in the first seven months of 2005.