Mexico City - While Mexican finance authorities have had to reduce yet again their forecasts for economic growth this year, some new statistics cast a slightly more positive light on the situation.

Foreign Direct Investment in the first quarter was the highest ever seen for the period, coming in at US $7.57 billion, according the Secretariat of the Economy. The figure was up 30% over last year’s $5.82 billion.

Of this year’s total, $2.8 billion — which was up 54% from last year — came in the form of new investment; the balance was reinvestment of earnings. Much of the new investment came with AT&T’s purchase of Iusacell, valued at $2.37 billion.

The Economy Secretariat said the reinvestment of earnings is a reflection of confidence in Mexico and business growth.

Although Ricardo Haneine, general manager of AT Kearney in Mexico, a consulting firm, sees the numbers for the first quarter as positive, he said the total for the year ought to come close to 3% of Gross Domestic Product, which would be about $40 billion USD.

Foreign Direct Investment last year was just $22.6 billion, down considerably from $42.1 billion in 2013.

Meanwhile, the Bank of México cut its growth forecasts last week, predicting an increase between 2% and 3% this year, down from 2.5% to 3.5%. The forecast for 2016 was cut to 2.5% to 3.5% from 2.9% to 3.9%.