Seven out of 10 Mexicans feel crisis has reached their country

Oct 8, 2008, 16:29 GMT

Mexico City - Seven out of 10 Mexicans believe their country has already fallen victim to the global economic crisis, although Mexican authorities insist that the country is in a position to face the storm.

According to an opinion poll published in the daily El Universal on Wednesday, 91 per cent of Mexicans think the US crisis will impact their country, and 77 per cent believe that the crisis in Mexico itself has already started.

Of 500 people interviewed in the telephone survey, however, 51 per cent still claim that they do not personally feel the impact of the crisis.

Despite the clouds hovering over the world economy, violence remains the main cause for worry among Mexicans, the poll showed. Five out of 10 (52 per cent) of those interviewed think it is the worst problem facing the country.

The economy ranks second on 13 per cent, drug trafficking on 7 per cent, unemployment on 6 per cent, and corruption on 5 per cent.

The United States is Mexico's main trade partner, and at least 6 million illegal immigrants from Mexico live and work in the United States and send remittances to their families in Mexico.

Remittances are a key element in the subsistence of many families living in dire poverty, and they have been falling over recent months. In August they fell by 12.2 per cent, Mexico's Central Bank said.

Economic analysts estimate that the crisis will have an impact on employment, foreign investment, tourism and remittances, among others, besides causing an increase in prices.