MEXICO CITY, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A recent reduction in Mexico's benchmark interest rate will spur investment to counter the global economic slowdown, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said on Tuesday.
The move by Mexico's central bank Banxico is in line with financial institutions in other countries, he said.
"We are seeing the Mexican central bank align itself with a tendency and a response by central banks around the world," Herrera told reporters.
"It clearly helps, and the way it helps is to lower the financial cost of raising money for investment, and that's important," said Herrera.
The Mexican central bank on Thursday announced the decision to lower the benchmark interest rate for the first time in five years, to 8.00 percent from 8.25 percent, given signs of global economy slowing down.
The move came two weeks after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the cost of lending for the first time since 2008.
Mexico's gross domestic product expanded by 2 percent in 2018. For this year, Banxico has forecast a growth of between 0.8 percent and 1.8 percent.