Quarters: Economy and Kick-Start Growth

quarters: In news that will again put the government on the defensive, the new revision confirms the economy fell into recession in the first half of the year, defined as two or more consecutive quarters of contraction, according to The Japan Times. Year-on-year, the economy contracted 0.2 percent from the third quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2019. The downward revision confirmed the economy's weak performance under leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is struggling to deliver on his promise to kick-start growth in his first year in office. ; The economy contracted by 0.1 percent in each of the first two quarters and stagnated in the third, according to the revised figures from the national statistics institute, INEGI. Preliminary figures had said the economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first quarter, then grew 0.1 percent in the second later revised to zero, before being revised down again and 0.1 percent again in the third. Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018 promising to deliver economic growth of 2 percent for 2019 and an average of 4 percent across his six-year term. Investor confidence has also taken a hit from the grim financial outlook at state oil company Pemex, Mexico's largest company. But he has clashed with the business community on a number of key issues, notably by canceling construction of a new 13 billion airport for Mexico City that was one-third complete and replacing it with a rival project. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.