Mexican Inflation Rising at Record Pace

Consumer prices rose 8.7% in April for a total 34.4% increase through the first four months of the year, far more rapidly than last year’s record inflation pace, the central Bank of Mexico said Friday.

The April increase, which the bank blamed chiefly on higher gasoline prices, followed a 6.6% rise in March.

Last year, consumer prices rose 25.2% in the first four months, on the way to a record 105.7% annual accumulated increase.

The figures released by the central bank showed the economy apparently defying government planners’ efforts to hold inflation this year to between 70% and 80%.

After gasoline, the biggest increases in April, the bank said, were in restaurant and hotel services, housing rentals, bus and train service, doctor bills, appliances, taxis, leisure activities, certain foods (bread, beef, tortillas, vegetable oil, some fruits and vegetables) and certain medicines.

One of the main causes of inflation in the past year has been the government’s decision to reduce or eliminate subsidies that for years held down the prices of basic products.