“It was bad enough with the economic situation, and now it’s even worse.”
SHOOT: They're so far stopped short of shutting down workplaces. Everything else is closed.
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico requested the closure of
bars, movie theaters and churches in the capital to fight an
outbreak of deadly swine flu, while stopping short of ordering
workplaces shut on concern about the economic impact.
The effort to fight the virus has a “high potential for
disruption,” Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said today while
speaking to reporters at the International Monetary Fund’s
spring meetings. It’s too early to gauge the economic impact, he
said.
The epidemic, which has claimed as many as 81 lives,
threatens to deepen the country’s economic decline after U.S.
demand for Mexican exports including cars and home appliances
plummeted. The Mexican economy shrank 1.6 percent in the fourth
quarter and probably contracted another 4.2 percent in the first
three months of this year, according to a central bank survey of
32 economists published April 1.
“People don’t even want to leave their houses,” he said. |
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