Banxico, as the Mexican central bank is known, has raised its benchmark interest rate by 700 basis points since its rate-hiking cycle started in June 2021, as inflation surged far beyond its target of 3%, plus or minus 1 percentage point. Initially Heath, who is regarded as one board's most hawkish members, expected to vote for a 25 basis points hike at the last meeting, until incoming data painted a "less benign" picture for inflation. He added that new information could sway Banxico's board members one way or another before the March 30 meeting. "Frontloading" with a half percentage point hike sought to keep that jump in services inflation to a one-off situation, said Heath, noting he saw price pressures starting to transition to more local and domestic factors from the predominantly global factors seen in recent years. Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Noe Torres; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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