MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican finance ministry official on Friday said he was confident Mexico would renew its $72 billion flexible credit line with the International Monetary Fund before it expires next year, but that the process had taken longer than expected.

Finance minister Luis Videgaray said in April that Mexico hoped to hold onto the line, which has never been used but provides Latin America's No. 2 economy with a helpful insurance policy.

On Friday, deputy finance minister Miguel Messmacher told reporters that the IMF continued to review the line, which it granted to Mexico in April 2009.

"There has been a review process that is taking a little more time than expected, but we still expect that we will get the renewal without any problem before the line expires," he said.

Mexico did not have the safety net during the 2008 financial crisis, when it suffered one of the biggest hits among emerging market economies because of its close ties to the United States.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, editing by Gunna Dickson)