Mexico

The Mexican government sent in marines Friday to take over part of a private railway line in southern Mexico, the Associated Press reported. It was not clear whether the seizure of the rail line on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec constituted an expropriation. The government said that it would compensate the owners for what it called the “temporary occupation” of the railway run by a Mexican company, Grupo Mexico Transportes.

Mexico’s industrial production took an unexpected hit in March, driven by a decline in manufacturing output and a stark drop in mining activity as tighter financial conditions drag down Latin America’s second-largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Mexican industrial production declined 0.9% from February, below economists’ median forecast for a 0.1% contraction. Mining output dipped 3.5% in the monthly comparison while manufacturing slowed 1.1%. The likelihood of a US recession and high interest rates could hurt the sector and the overall economy over the course of 2023.

Mexico’s annual inflation slowed for the third consecutive month to 6.25% in April, data from statistics agency INEGI showed on Tuesday, fueling expectations the Bank of Mexico's monetary tightening cycle may be ending, Reuters reported. April's reading was nearly as low as October 2021, though it came slightly above the consensus forecast of 6.23%, as determined by a Reuters poll. Consumer prices fell 0.02% in April, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures, against an expected 0.04% fall. The core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.39% during the month.

Mexico’s inflation eased roughly in line with analysts’ expectations in early April as the central bank weighs ending a record monetary tightening cycle in Latin America’s second-biggest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 6.24% in the first half of the month compared to the same period a year earlier, down from 6.58% in late March, the national statistics institute reported Monday.

The Bank of Mexico's governing board struck a more dovish tone at its March 29 monetary policy meeting, with board members discussing the possibility that the bank's rate-hiking cycle may have reached its end, minutes from the meeting showed Thursday, Reuters reported. Banxico, as the Mexican central bank is known, hiked its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 11.25% at that meeting, moderating the pace of a tightening cycle that began in mid-2021.

Mexican automotive production and exports rose in March from the same month a year earlier, data from the national statistics agency (INEGI) showed on Monday, Reuters reported. Production increased by 13.12% to 346,124 vehicles, while auto exports rose 3.88% to 272,687 vehicles, the data showed. Read more.

Mexico’s inflation eased more than economists expected in early March, likely boosting the odds that the central bank will slow a record monetary tightening cycle at next week’s meeting, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 7.12% in the first two weeks of the month from the same period a year earlier, down from 7.48% in late February, the national statistics institute reported Thursday. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as fuel, was 8.15% on an annual basis, below the previous measure of 8.21% and matching economists’ estimate.

Mexican consumer prices rose less than expected in early March, the national statistics agency said on Thursday, backing bets the central bank could slow the pace of its monetary tightening later this month, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in the first half of March hit 7.12%, down from 7.48% in the second of half of February and below market expectations. Mexican core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy products and has in recent months been more stubborn than headline inflation, was 8.15% in annual terms.

A cohort of TV Azteca SAB’s creditors filed a petition to force the Mexican broadcaster into involuntary bankruptcy in the U.S., the latest twist in drawn-out debt talks, Bloomberg News reported. Holders of about $63 million of unsecured Azteca bonds filed an involuntary chapter 11 petition against the company in New York, according to court papers on Monday. The move marks the second attempt by bondholders to get traction for their claims against Azteca after it defaulted on the $400 million of notes in 2021.