Mexico’s Economy Expected to Grow 4.5%

President-elect Vicente Fox’s economic team said it expects Mexico’s economy to grow as much as 4.5% next year, with inflation slowing to about 7%. The new government, which will take power Dec. 1, plans to keep next year’s budget deficit to no more than 0.5% of gross domestic product, about half this year’s level, said Luis Ernesto Derbez and Eduardo Sojo, senior economic advisors to Fox. Some investors had become concerned about Fox’s economic plans amid different estimates for next year’s budget deficit, calculated variously at 0.5% to 1% of GDP. A fast-growing economy, which surged at a 7.8% clip in the first half of the year, also raised concern that Fox’s government would need to keep government spending in check. To achieve its goal, Fox’s economic team sees the need to slash spending by about 0.7% of GDP next year. Those cuts reflect an expected decline in oil prices that will leave the Mexican government with fewer resources to spend.