MEXICO CITY, Oct 7 (Reuters) - There are clear signs the Mexican economy is improving and that the peso could appreciate in the future thanks to the country's solid economic fundamentals, Banco de Mexico governor Agustin Carstens said on Tuesday.

Mexico's economy has picked up after a weak start to the year and is expected to grow between 2.0 and 2.8 percent in 2014.

Speaking to lawmakers in Mexico's lower house of congress, Carstens said the improvement of the economy "is consolidating."

"In the last two or three months, we've seen much clearer signs of a recovery," he said. "We think growth for the third and fourth quarters will be around 1 percent, quarter-on-quarter, so we do see an improvement for this year and next."

Carstens also said a stronger peso could be on the horizon.

"It wouldn't surprise me to see more appreciation going forward because really, the economic fundamentals are strong in Mexico," he said.

Mexico's peso has weakened in recent weeks due to the fact that the United States has started to normalize its monetary policy, Carstens said last week.

(Reporting by Michael O'Boyle; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter)