Mexicans headed to the polls on Sunday to cast their votes in the country's first-ever elections for members of the judiciary -- from the federal supreme court to local courts.
A total of 881 judges and magistrates at the national and regional levels, including nine Supreme Court justices, would be selected through the unprecedented elections, according to the National Electoral Institute.
Thousands of polling stations were set up nationwide for the one-day vote, said the institute.
"I think the judicial reforms and votes are very important for Mexico, because there has never been a judge elected through public vote. I believe casting votes to select judges like this is good for the vast majority of Mexicans," a male voter said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) at a polling station in Mexico City.
The results of the elections are expected to be announced in 10 days.
Sunday's elections followed an approval from Mexico's Congress of the Union last September for an overhaul of the judicial system, which included the introduction of direct elections for all judges by public vote, and a reduction in the number of Supreme Court justices from 11 to 9.
Mexico holds first-ever judicial elections
Mexico holds first-ever judicial elections
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2026 to 3.1 percent in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday, while keeping its projection for 2027 at 3.2 percent.
This marks a deceleration from the estimated 3.4 percent growth achieved in 2025. Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the bottom-up forecasts for global growth would have been 3.4 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027.
The forecast incorporates the impact of the war and assumes that it will be limited in duration, intensity and scope, with disruptions fading by mid-2026.
Under the reference forecast, global headline inflation is expected to increase to 4.4 percent in 2026 and decline to 3.7 percent in 2027.
If the conflict and the ensuing spike in oil prices last longer, global economic growth in 2026 will fall to 2.5 percent, while global inflation will climb to 5.4 percent, according to the report.
In extreme cases, global economic growth in 2026 could drop to two percent, the report warned.
To be specific, the U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2026 and 2.1 percent in 2027, although higher trade barriers introduced since April 2025 are expected to continue to weigh on activity.
In the euro area, growth is projected to decline from 1.4 percent in 2025 to 1.1 percent in 2026 before edging up to 1.2 percent in 2027. The forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are each 0.2 percentage point lower than those compared in the January 2026 WEO Update.
The 2026 growth forecast for emerging market and developing economies is revised down by 0.3 percentage point, to 3.9 percent, while the outlook for advanced economies remains broadly unchanged. With risks still tilted to the downside since the January 2026 WEO Update, the IMF suggested a comprehensive policy package combining domestic measures with coordinated international actions to strengthen resilience and foster adaptability.
It also stated in the report that "trade restrictions play a limited role in correcting imbalances but can worsen output," and urged countries to cooperate and take coordinated actions to restore stability to international economic relations.
IMF lowers global growth forecast for 2026 to 3.1 pct
