The Day at a Glance | February 23 2023

*Inflation in Mexico surprised to the downside in the first half of February.

*The Central Bank of Mexico will make its latest monetary policy meeting minutes known (Feb. 9th).

*The United States´ 4Q22 GDP figure was revised downwards (2.7%; 2.9%e.) after logging a decrease in consumer spending, which was partially offset by an increase in non-residential investment. 

*January´s inflationary data in the Eurozone was slightly revised upwards (8.6% vs 8.5%e.), confirming that the peak has passed.

*One day away from Russia-Ukraine war anniversary, Putin talked up Russia´s nuclear arsenal.

*Catherine Mann, of the Bank of England, said it´s still too soon to say the risks posed by the surge in inflation last year had eased and that the central bank should continue to raise borrowing costs. 

Economic environment

General inflation set at 7.76% in the first half of February, below the 7.81% expected by analysts.On a biweekly period, consumer prices increased 0.30% (vs. 0.35%e.). Broken down, underlying prices logged a 0.35% increase (vs. 0.39%e.), while merchandise prices rose 0.40% and services 0.30%; mainly due to increases in food, beverages, and tobacco (0.34%), non-food merchandise (0.47%), and tuition fees (0.60%). Regarding non-core inflation, the 0.15% figure is explained by increases in energy prices (0.52%) and livestock (1.68%), which more than offset the decline in fruit and vegetable prices (-2.58%). Agricultural prices recorded a -0.24% decrease. With this, on an annual basis, underlying inflation logged a 8.38% figure (vs. 8.42%e.), while the non-underlying component stood at 5.93%.