MEXICO CITY, April 22 (Xinhua) -- As Latin America's second-largest economy, Mexico is showing strong dynamism and good balance between its internal and external sectors, said the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) on Sunday.

In its weekly report, the SHCP said that, in 2018 to date, the Mexican economy had built on solid macroeconomic foundations.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its recent report on global economic perspectives, predicted the Mexican economy would accelerate from the 2 percent observed in 2017, to 2.3 percent in 2018 and 3 percent in 2019," it explained.

According to the ministry, this strong development is explained by a growth in external demand due to an improving U.S. economy, with which Mexico is modernizing NAFTA, along with Canada.

Internally, the SHCP said it saw a positive growth of private consumption, which has been bolstered by the constant arrival of remittances into Mexico, as well as job creation and salary growth.

"There is a good dynamic of formal labor, with around 370,000 positions being created in the first quarter of the year," read the statement.

The SHCP added that another factor driving this economic growth was the government's structural reforms, "which have contributed to increasing the Mexican economy's capacity to resist external shocks."

It also indicated that Mexico's growth perspectives were increasing. The ministry said the economy could grow between 2.5-3.5 percent for 2019, after 2-3 percent in 2018.

The country saw its GDP grow by 2 percent in 2017, down from 2.9 percent in 2016.