Mexico

Mexico's economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter compared to the previous three-month period, a preliminary estimate from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the economy grew 1.6%, the statistics agency said. Read more.

Mexico’s annual inflation shot past forecasts in the first half of April, likely cementing a rate hold at the central bank’s May monetary policy meeting, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Wednesday showed consumer prices rose 4.63% from a year before, above all estimates in a Bloomberg survey that had a 4.51% median forecast. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and fuel, slowed to 4.39%. Stubborn price pressures have made it more difficult for analysts to predict whether policymakers’ March interest rate reduction was the beginning of continuous easing.

Mexico’s leading presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum said she expects Petroleos Mexicanos, the world’s most indebted oil producer, to refinance its bonds ahead of upcoming maturities in 2025, Bloomberg News reported. “By necessity it has to be in 2025, because there is a maturity of part of the debt coming up in the next year, and we have to work on that,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of Mexico’s annual banking convention in Acapulco.

Mexico’s central bank cut interest rates for the first time since 2021 in a split decision, finally joining a regional trend for monetary easing as inflation slows, Bloomberg News reported. The bank cut its key rate a quarter point to 11% on Thursday, as forecast by 26 of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Deputy governor Irene Espinosa voted to leave the rate unchanged, while the other four board members all backed the reduction, the bank said in its policy statement.

Bank of Mexico Deputy Governor Omar Mejia argued in a podcast published on Wednesday that it is not premature to consider lowering the bank's benchmark interest rate, though he cautioned that any future cuts should remain restrictive, Reuters reported. The bank's interest rate currently stands at a historic high of 11.25%, and the monetary authority is set to meet later this month.

Mexico’s headline inflation eased much more than expected earlier this month, reinforcing bets that central bankers in Latin America’s second-largest economy could soon join the region’s wave of interest rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 4.45% in the first half of February compared to the same period a year prior, down from 4.87% in late January, the national statistics institute reported Thursday. The reading was below all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey that had a 4.7% median estimate.

The total financial debt of Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex totaled $106.8 billion at the end of last year, according to preliminary data released by the country's president on Wednesday, Reuters reported. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador revealed the debt data in a chart from a presentation on Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, at his regular government press conference. The presentation was dated Feb. 20. It was not immediately clear whether the figure he cited will be included in Pemex's quarterly financial results expected next week.

Bonds of Petroleos Mexicanos declined on Monday after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the firm’s credit score further into junk territory, saying the state oil company would be near default without support from the Mexican government, Bloomberg News reported. Pemex’s notes due in 2030 fell as much as 2.9 cents on the dollar to 84.6 cents, according to Trace data compiled by Bloomberg. The extra yield investors demand to hold Pemex’s debt due in about six years over the Mexican sovereign widened more than 60 basis points to 4.93 percentage points.

Mexican lender Unifin has concluded its bankruptcy proceedings, the company said in a filing on Monday, following the approval of its plan to restructure debts by a local court, Reuters reported. Unifin's business model focuses on offering specialized financing to companies, as well as car loans. In 2022, a court approved Unifin's voluntary application for declaration of bankruptcy, a move the firm said would help it protect assets and hold talks with creditors. The lender's last published quarterly results from the second quarter of 2022 showed financial liabilities of around $4 billion.