Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that more needs to be done to fight inflation, adding he wants to maintain price agreements with companies to limit the cost of 24 basic food items, first introduced last year, Reuters reported. Mexico's annual inflation rose slightly to 4.32% in November compared to 4.26% the previous month, according to data released last week by the statistics institute. "We have to put in more effort. This is an issue that we have to take great care of," the president said speaking in a regular press conference.

Bulk grain shippers hauling crops from the U.S. Gulf Coast export hub to Asia are sailing longer routes and paying higher freight costs to avoid vessel congestion and record-high transit fees in the drought-hit Panama Canal, traders and analysts said, Reuters reported. The shipping snarl through one of the world's main maritime trade routes comes at the peak season for U.S. crop exports, and the higher costs are threatening to dent demand for U.S. corn and soy suppliers that have already ceded market share to Brazil in recent years.

Unsecured creditors of Metroland have approved an insolvency proposal by the Toronto Star's sister company, the Toronto Star reported. The creditors, including former employees, voted Tuesday at a meeting chaired by proposal trustee Jonathan Krieger, a partner at Grant Thornton, a restructuring and insolvency consultancy. The proposal still needs court approval.

Canada’s banking regulator chose not to boost capital requirements on the country’s largest lenders, signaling that officials believe banks’ balance sheets are strong enough to withstand economic turbulence, Bloomberg News reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions left the domestic stability buffer at 3.5%. It had increased it in June and last December. The buffer is like a rainy-day fund designed to protect the system by ensuring that banks can absorb losses in a weak economy or shock to the financial system.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) on Thursday called for policy changes to spur more housing construction and reduce pressure on inflation caused by a lack of shelter, especially at a time of record immigration, Reuters reported. Deputy governor Toni Gravelle spoke a day after the central bank held its key overnight rate at 5% but left the door open to another hike, saying it was still concerned about inflation.

The U.S. and Mexico agreed on Wednesday to cooperate on stronger screening of investments to reduce national security risks and discussed integrating cross-border payments systems, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen insisted that the moves were not motivated by concerns about China, Reuters reported. The Treasury and Mexican Finance Ministry signed an agreement to exchange information on technical information and best practices as Yellen wrapped up a three-day visit to Mexico City. The Biden administration is promoting Mexico as a premier investment destination for U.S.

Mexico's headline inflation accelerated in November while core inflation continued to ease, official data showed on Thursday, reinforcing expectations the central bank will cut interest rates starting next year, Reuters reported. Annual headline inflation in Latin America's second-largest economy hit 4.32% in November, statistics agency INEGI said, a slight rebound from 4.26% in the previous month, when it touched its lowest level since February 2021, but still below the forecast of 4.40% in a Reuters poll of economists.

Self-driving trucking company TuSimple Holdings said on Monday that it is winding down its U.S. business, reducing its workforce to about 30 people as it looks for a buyer for its assets that remain in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The demise of TuSimple’s U.S. operations marks a precipitous fall for the one-time leader in autonomous long-haul trucking. The San Diego-based company in the past year has had to grapple with safety concerns as well as government scrutiny of its dealings with a Chinese trucking startup.

A trust administrated by the Mexican government has bought back around $480 million in bonds issued to finance a partially built Mexico City airport that was later canceled, the trust's operator said late Wednesday, Reuters reported. Investors holding notes with maturities from 2026 to 2047 participated in the buyback, the Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de Mexico said, trimming the overall outstanding indebtedness to around $3.7 billion. The trust in late November had sweetened the tender offer, extending early bid premiums through the end of the buyback.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) on Wednesday held its key overnight rate at 5% and left the door open to another hike, saying it was still concerned about inflation while acknowledging an economic slowdown and a general easing of prices, Reuters reported. The central bank raised rates by a quarter point in both June and July to a 22-year high and has left them on hold in the three policy-setting meetings since. Inflation slowed to 3.1% in October, down from a peak of more than 8% last year, but it has remained above the bank's 2% target for 31 months.