MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Mexican Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero said Monday the government is likely to raise its
3% economic growth estimate for 2010.

The Finance Ministry has so far stuck to its conservative estimate for gross-domestic-product
growth this year, following what is expected to have been a 6.8% contraction for all of 2009.

“We maintain that we
are going to grow around 3% or more, although this forecast will surely be revised very soon,” Cordero told reporters at an
event in New York, according to a transcript of his comments provided by the Finance Ministry.

Cordero noted independent
estimates for economic growth this year are above the ministry’s forecast, referring specifically to the International Monetary
Fund and JPMorgan.

JPMorgan last week raised its GDP growth forecast for Mexico to 4.5% from 3.5%, citing a stronger-than-expected
rebound in manufacturing and an improvement in domestic demand.

Manufacturing remained robust in January, with the
country’s auto industry reporting that production more than doubled from January 2009, while exports similarly surged.

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