MEXICO CITY: Mexican national oil company Pemex announced on Friday a loss of more than seven billion dollars in 2008, a sixfold increase over the previous year, a company spokesman said.

The loss was mainly attributed to the drop in the peso's value, the spokesman told AFP.

Pemex declared a loss of around one billion dollars in 2007.

Mexico's peso was trading Friday at a record low of 15.22 to a dollar, despite an injection of cash by the country's Central Bank (Banxico).

The value of the peso has been dropping steadily since late August despite Banxico's 18.5-billion-dollar injection of cash in the exchange market that began on October 8 to fight the peso's fall.

- AFP/yt