Investment In Machinery and Equipment Grows in Mexico

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported that Gross Fixed Investment, which represents expenditures made in “construction, machinery and equipment” of domestic and imported origin registered an increase in real terms of 2.3% during March 2021 with respect to the immediately preceding month, with seasonally adjusted figures.

By components, expenditures made in total machinery and equipment grew 3%, while in construction they decreased 0.3% in the third month of this year compared to the previous month, according to seasonally adjusted data.

In its annual comparison, Gross Fixed Investment increased 1.7% in real terms in the month in review. Within it, total machinery and equipment expenditures rose 12.1%, while in construction they decreased 6.2% compared to the same month of 2020, with seasonally adjusted series.

It should be pointed out that according to information from Banco de México, in the two-month period January-February 2021, gross fixed investment reversed the drop observed in December 2020, although at the end of that period it was 3.5% below the level of February 2020 with seasonally adjusted series.

Investment in transportation equipment and in the rest of machinery and equipment registered a reactivation with respect to the fourth quarter of 2020. Indicators related to this aggregate, such as imports of capital goods, suggest that this recovery could have continued during the rest of the first quarter of 2021.

It should be remarked that the Monthly Indicator of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (IMFBCF) provides information on the monthly behavior of investment, made up of goods used in the productive process for more than one year and which are subject to property rights. The GFCFIMF shows how a part of the gross value added in the economy is invested rather than consumed.