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| - Mexico's central bank on Thursday announced the first increase in its benchmark interest rate in more than two years in the face of growing inflationary pressures. The governing board decided to increase the inter-bank rate by 25 basis points, to 4.25 percent, the central bank said in a statement -- the first hike since December 2018. The move marks a shift in policy following a series of interest rate cuts aimed at reviving Latin America's second-largest economy, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. With the economy now on the mend, monetary authorities are concerned about inflation that topped six percent in April before easing slightly. That was far above the Bank of Mexico's target level of around 3.0 percent. "It was considered necessary to strengthen the monetary stance in order to avoid effects on inflation expectations ... and promote the convergence of inflation to the target of three percent," the central bank said in a statement. The Bank of Mexico reduced its benchmark lending rate 12 times between August 2019 and February, bringing it down from 8.25 percent to stimulate economic growth. "With the core (inflation) rate set to remain above target over the coming months, this hawkish shift suggests that some further tightening over the rest of the year is likely," said analysts at the consultancy firm Capital Economics. Mexico's economy shrank 8.5 percent in 2020, according to official figures, in the worst slump since the Great Depression some nine decades ago. The country of 126 million people has an official coronavirus death toll of nearly 232,000 -- one of the highest in the world -- but infections and deaths have declined steadily in recent months. yug-dr/dw
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