Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday he will launch a plan to tame inflation with other Latin American governments, Reuters reported. Lopez Obrador said he has already spoken with the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Colombia to join forces in a plan that seeks to remove tariffs to reduce the price of food items. "We are going to carry out an anti-inflationary plan of mutual aid and growth, for economic and commercial exchange between Latin American countries," the president said in a regular news conference.

Omar Mejia, recently appointed deputy governor of Mexico's central bank, said on Wednesday the institution could consider slowing the pace of raising its key interest rate and the economy should continue to grow this year despite tight monetary policy, Reuters reported. "I believe that going forward we could consider slowing the pace of rate adjustments, as it is already very close to the appropriate level to consolidate a de-inflationary process," he said in a podcast interview with Grupo Financiero Banorte.

Bank of Mexico board member Jonathan Heath said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that he does not see the central bank's benchmark interest rate reaching 12%, Reuters reported. "In my very personal opinion and based on the data available today, I do not see the terminal rate reaching 12%, but rather I estimate that it will be located in a range of 11.25% to 11.75%," Heath told newspaper El Financiero. The central bank's governing board raised its key interest rate to a record 11% this month amid stubborn inflation.

Mexico's headline inflation decelerated more than forecast by analysts in early February, data from the national statistics agency showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in the first half of the month came down to 7.76% from 7.94% a month earlier, while economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.80%. Meanwhile the core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, hit 8.38% on an annual basis, with a surprise of -0.04%. However, annual inflation still remains above the Bank of Mexico's target rate of 3%, plus or minus one percentage point.

The Bank of Mexico's monetary tightening cycle is nearing its end and nominal interest rates could top out between 11.25% and 11.75%, at which point rates would be kept steady to allow them to take effect, deputy bank governor Jonathan Heath said, Reuters reported. Banxico, as the Mexican central bank is known, has raised its benchmark interest rate by 700 basis points since its rate-hiking cycle started in June 2021, as inflation surged far beyond its target of 3%, plus or minus 1 percentage point.

Mexican airline Aeromar announced the "definitive end" of operations on Wednesday, as the heavily indebted company failed to reach agreements with providers and a rumored potential investor, Reuters reported. The struggling company is the latest in a string of Mexican airlines hit with major financial woes in recent years, following Interjet in 2020 and Aeromexico, which came out of bankruptcy proceedings last March. Like its peers, Aeromar was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but had shown signs of financial struggles before.

Mexican same-store retail sales rose by 10.6% across 2022 compared to the previous year, as the highest inflation in over two decades sent prices soaring, Mexican retailers' association ANTAD said Wednesday, with sales expected to moderate in 2023, Reuters reported. In 2022, sales at the retail group's member stores totaled 1.43 trillion Mexican pesos ($76.08 billion). The retail group said in a statement that surging consumer prices were partly responsible for the sales growth last year, as top-line inflation reached 7.82% in December.

Mexico's headline inflation accelerated and exceeded expectations in early January, data from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday, marking the first monthly pickup since September as markets brace for fresh interest rate hikes ahead, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in the first half of the month reached 7.94%, beating both the 7.77% recorded in the month of December and economists' forecasts of 7.86%, though still below the two-decade high of 8.70% registered in August and September.

Mexican industrial output was unchanged in November from October but rose 3.2% year-over-year, the national statistics agency said on Wednesday, as economists expect an economic slowdown in the United States to affect the sector ahead, Reuters reported. Statistics agency INEGI said in a statement that higher construction and utilities output boosted industrial production in the month, but ended up offset by a drop in mining and manufacturing.

Mexico's headline inflation ended 2022 slightly below analysts' expectations, while core inflation finally appeared to have peaked, data from the national statistics agency showed on Monday, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in December reached 7.82%, up moderately from 7.80% in November, but still below the record 8.70% reached in August and September. Meanwhile the core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, hit 8.35% on an annual basis in December, dropping from November's 8.51%, and the first slowdown since its stubborn upwards cycle began.