The first half of January saw its highest inflation rate — 1.51 percent higher than the last half of December — Mexico has experienced in the last 18 years, when inflation rates reached 1.62 percent in January 1999.
Annually compared to last year, inflation grew 4.78 percent, the highest level since January 2016 when it spiked to 2.48 per cent, meaning prices doubled by January 2017, according to data from the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI).
As a result of the current oil prices — which rose 16.53 percent — following the liberation of gasoline prices, the Treasury and Public Finance Secretariat (SHCP) established the maximum prices related to the cost of supplies on the international market. Due to the latter, government subventions to the cost of gasoline were cancelled, raising the price of national gasoline by 2 pesos ($0.09) a liter.
Commodities included in non-underlying goods spiked 4.6 per cent after a 2016 increase from 2.08 to 8.02 per cent; government utilities grew from 3.15 to 3.57 percent. On the other hand, underlying goods such as food and tobacco rose to 4.5 percent from 2.18 during 2016.
Products with the highest price hikes are high-octane or premium gasoline, LP gas and low-octane gasoline; while tomatoes, grapes, air travel and package tourist services are on a downward trend.
