IMF chief visits Mexico

The head of the International Monetary Fund arrived in Mexico on Tuesday, where she will meet the president and central bank chief, on a Latin America tour overshadowed by the European debt crisis. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in a blog post ahead of the trip that Mexico was "in a unique position to shape our collective economic destiny over the coming year" as it takes over leadership of the Group of 20 most powerful economies in 2012. Lagarde was scheduled for private talks with central bank chief Agustin Carstens Tuesday, before meeting with President Felipe Calderon and Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade and giving a news conference Wednesday. Carstens sought to become the first non-European ever to head the Washington-based IMF when the top job opened earlier this year, but lost to Lagarde in June. At a G20 summit earlier this month in Cannes, France, Calderon said the IMF should provide loans to support a "retaining wall" around risky debtor countries like Italy and Spain. Calderon pointed to the example of Mexico, which received a flexible credit line from the IMF during the 2008-09 crisis, which hit the country badly. On Monday Lagarde visited Peru, where she denied reports that Italy had asked for aid from the IMF and called for European Union leaders to quickly present a "comprehensive solution" to the eurozone crisis. Lagarde has warned Mexico to closely watch conditions in Europe and the United States, to which it sends almost 80 percent of exports. Mexico saw growth of 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the previous year, surpassing predictions. Growth in Latin America's second economy is predicted at between 3.8 and 4.8 percent overall in 2011. Lagarde is scheduled to visit Brazil on Thursday, where she will meet top officials including President Dilma Rousseff and Finance Minister Guido Mantega.