EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico's peso extends slide as firm dollar weighs

* Mexican economy grows 1.4% in February from January * Ecuador's President Noboa wins security-focused referendum * Brazil aims to boost credit for small businesses, real estate loans * Thousands of Colombians protest Petro's economic, social reforms By Bansari Mayur Kamdar April 22 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso kicked off the new week lower on Monday, as a strong dollar continued to roil the South American country's currency, while data showed its economy grew in February. The peso slipped 0.3% to 17.17 against the greenback by 1426 GMT. The currency fell 2.8% last week and posted its worst weekly decline since October, dragged down by growing tensions in the Middle East and worries about the timeline for monetary policy easing in the United States. Meanwhile, data showed Mexico's economy grew 1.4% in February from January and expanded 4.4% from February of 2023. "This is a solid report; the underlying trend is stabilizing, following a poor performance in Q4 and January, and we expect further good news in the near term," said Andres Abadia, chief Latam economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "The recent MXN sell-off likely will force Banxico to stay on the sidelines next month." The Mexican economy is set to grow steadily after June's presidential election, in line with a decent performance in the United States, a Reuters poll showed. A strong dollar also weighed on other regional currencies, with the Chilean peso down 0.3% and Colombia's peso falling 0.7% against the dollar. Tens of thousands of Colombians marched on Sunday to reject economic and social reforms being proposed by the government of President Gustavo Petro. In other political news, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa won significant voter support for a raft of security measures he says will help him fight sharply increased crime, a quick vote tally by the national electoral council showed on Sunday. Peru's sol and Brazil's real bucked regional weakness and gained 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. The Brazilian government will launch measures aimed at re-negotiating debts and reducing the cost of new loans for small businesses and low-income families, besides establishing a secondary market for real estate credit. Elsewhere in emerging markets, Ukraine's government bonds slipped as concern about the ongoing war and debt-restructuring wiped out initial investor relief over the approval of a $61 billion U.S. aid package. A slump in Poland's march industrial output print dragged the zloty slightly down against the euro. Hungary's forint inched higher ahead of Tuesday's rate decision. Central bank decisions from Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia are also on tap later this week. HIGHLIGHTS: ** IMF concerned about debt, fiscal challenges facing low-income countries ** Ghana finance minister expects MoU with bilateral lenders in May ** China to facilitate Hong Kong IPOs, expand Stock Connect Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1426 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1010.67 0.65 MSCI LatAm 2412.30 0.54 Brazil Bovespa 124958.05 -0.13 Mexico IPC 55862.36 0 Chile IPSA 6333.18 -0.52 Argentina MerVal 1203951.72 1.24 Colombia COLCAP 1348.07 1.2 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.1911 0.14 Mexico peso 17.1740 -0.54 Chile peso 957.2 -0.40 Colombia peso 3936.77 -0.82 Peru sol 3.6869 -0.45 Argentina peso (interbank) 872.0000 -0.06 Argentina peso (parallel) 995 3.02 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)