LatinNews Daily - 10 January 2025

*Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) has announced that it anticipates making larger interest rate cuts in its upcoming meetings as inflation continues to ease. Banxico made four consecutive rate cuts of 25 basis points between August and December last year, bringing the benchmark rate to 10%. In the recently released minutes from its 19 December monetary policy meeting, Banxico noted that while a restrictive monetary stance was still necessary, “in view of the progress on disinflation, larger downward adjustments could be considered in some meetings”. This comes as the national statistics institute (Inegi) released the consumer price index (INPC) for December 2024 on 9 January, revealing a monthly inflation rate of 0.38%, down from 0.44% in November. This brought the annual headline inflation rate to 4.21%, the lowest since early 2021. However, the core inflation index, which is closely watched by Banxico and excludes volatile items such as food and fuel, was up 0.51%, resulting in a year-on-year rate of 3.65%, up from 3.58% in November, but still lower than the 3.80% registered in October. Banxico’s next monetary policy decision, its first of the year, is set for 6 February.