MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Raging drug gang violence  in Mexico is slicing about 1.2 percentage points off Mexico’s  gross domestic product, the country’s finance minister said yesterday.

“It has an impact for the government and for companies,”  Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero said at a news conference. “It  is bound to have an impact in terms of additional costs for  companies and this is why it is so important to fight organized  crime in Mexico in a more effective and timely way.”

Drug murders have soared since President Felipe Calderon  declared war on cartels on taking power in December 2006.