The price hike in Mexico is starting to break workers’ pockets. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) put inflation in Mexico at 7.12% at the end of the first half of March, according to data from the National Index of Consumer Prices released this Thursday. This is the fourth half of price declines after peaking in August 2022.
This data exceeded all analysts’ expectations. According to the Citibanamex expectations survey, specialists expected an interest rate of 7.26%, although it is still well above the Bank of Mexico’s targets. It was the drop in agricultural and energy prices that enabled this slowdown in the month of March.
However, core inflation, which excludes fresh food or energy due to their volatility and which drives the trajectory of general inflation, remains in the range, rising 0.30% fortnightly and fixing at 8.15% annually.
Within the core index, goods prices rose 10.26%, while services rose 5.68%. For non-core inflation, the annualized rate for the first fifteen days of March was 4.15%. Within its components, agricultural products rose 8.11%, while energy and government-approved tariffs rose 1.05%.
There is pressure within the Services sub-component, with a 0.35% fortnight price increase, above the average fortnightly inflation for that component of 0.22% over the last 10 years. Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Grupo Base, points out that this is the highest level since the second half of February 2003 analysis.
The products and services that became more expensive in the last two weeks were air transport with an increase of 17.96%, lemon, lemon with 15.29%, packaged tourist services with an increase of 4.86% and the Corn tortilla, the staple of Mexicans, rose 0.70%.
In contrast, the products that saw a price drop recorded domestic LPG down 2.43%, tomatoes down 4.75%, nopales down 14.40% and eggs showing a significant increase over the two-week period recorded 1.15% in price.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the important information about current events in this country