- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
Mexico president apologizes for revealing central bank rate hike
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador apologized Thursday after he surprised financial markets by revealing that the nation's autonomous central bank had decided to hike interest rates, hours before an official announcement.
"The Bank of Mexico raised the interest rate by 0.5 (percentage points). We're going to have an interest rate of 6.5 percent," Lopez Obrador said at his daily news conference.
The decision "was made unanimously by the Bank of Mexico (board of governors) and we respect its autonomy," he said, without revealing how he obtained the information.
The move, later confirmed by the central bank, is Mexico's seventh consecutive interest rate rise to tackle inflation that has hit a 20-year high above seven percent.
Addressing a banking conference later in the day, Lopez Obrador offered "an apology to the governor of the Bank of Mexico and the deputy governors," saying he had been informed of the decision the previous night and thought it had been made public.
He reiterated his "commitment to respect the autonomy of the Bank of Mexico," prompting applause from the audience.
Lopez Obrador's comments had drawn criticism from financial market analysts because they preceded the bank's own announcement by several hours.
"Never before has a monetary policy decision been leaked in Mexico," tweeted Gabriela Siller, head of economic analysis for the financial group BASE.
"That it is the president who does it raises concerns about the autonomy of the central bank," she added.
Capital Economics analyst Nikhil Sanghani called Lopez Obrador's comments "another worrying example of him chipping away at Mexico's key institutions."
The central bank's autonomy did not appear to face a major threat for now, he wrote in a note to clients.
"But such cavalier comments by the president, coming alongside his interventionist plans (especially in the energy sector), suggest that the poor investment climate in Mexico is unlikely to improve anytime soon," Sanghani added.
Mexico's monetary policy decisions are taken at meetings of the central bank's board of governors, made up of governor Victoria Rodriguez, who was nominated by Lopez Obrador, and her four deputies.
The sessions are usually also attended by a representative of the finance ministry.
Mexico's central bank law states that those who attend the meetings must keep the matters discussed confidential, unless they are otherwise authorized by the board.
With inflation in Mexico now more than double the central bank's target of around 3.0 percent, Capital Economics predicted four more interest rate rises of 0.5 percentage points, to 8.50 percent.
I.Meyer--BTB