Mexico president to launch anti-inflation plan with Latin American counterparts

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday he will launch a plan to tame inflation with other Latin American governments.

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.

There will be a teleconference between the presidents on April 5 and then an in-person meeting to discuss the plan, Lopez Obrador added.

Mexico’s annual headline inflation in the first half of February stood at 7.76%, while the core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices, hit 8.38% on an annual basis.

The Bank of Mexico on Wednesday revised its inflation forecast for the fourth quarter of 2023 to 4.9% from 4.1%, noting inflation is taking longer than initially anticipated to return to its target, mainly due to persistent core inflation.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire, Ana Isabel Martinez and Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)