MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s inflation likely continued to ease in October for the ninth consecutive month, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday, though still above the central bank’s target and fueling bets that it will hold the benchmark interest rate later this week.
A median forecast of 16 analysts projected annual headline inflation for October at 4.28%, slowing from 4.45% in September and the lowest since February 2021 after having climbed to a two-decade high of 8.7% last year.
Core inflation, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, was seen at 5.50% year-on-year in October, down from 5.76% in September.
Banxico, as the central bank is known, last month held its key interest rate at an all-time high of 11.25% for the fourth straight meeting, citing a complicated and uncertain inflationary outlook.
The central bank’s board also pushed back its forecast to reach the bank’s inflationary target of 3%, plus or minus one percentage point, to the second quarter of 2025.
Analysts also saw consumer prices speeding up slightly to rise 0.38% in October, while core inflation slowed to 0.40%.
National statistics institute INEGI will release October inflation data on Thursday, just hours ahead of Banxico’s monetary policy decision. The central bank is widely expected to continue to hold rates.
(Reporting by Marion Giraldo and Noe Torres; additional reporting by Gabriel Burin; writing by Kylie Madry; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
