MEXICO CITY, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday cut Mexico's 2022 economic growth forecast to 2.0 percent, down from 2.8 percent.

       According to an update to the IMF's World Economic Outlook report released earlier this year, the forecast for the country's growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 was also downgraded, by 0.2 percentage points to 2.5 percent.

       The adjustments are a result of lower expected growth in the United States, Mexico's main trade partner, amid an environment of higher inflation and higher interest rates.

       Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, grew by 4.8 percent in 2021 after plunging 8.2 percent the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

       The international lending agency said the global economic outlook had deteriorated "significantly" since January, dragged down by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

       The fluid international situation makes the quantitative forecasts even more uncertain than usual, the IMF said in the section corresponding to Latin America and the Caribbean.

       According to the IMF, the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow 2.5 percent in both 2022 and 2023.

       Global growth will be 3.6 percent in 2022, 0.8 percentage points lower than the forecast in January, according to the agency.