In the first fifteen days of March, consumer prices rose .1 percent, less than expected. The annual inflation rate is 2.71 percent, according to the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI).
INEGI released a report explaining that the inflation is due to price increases of tourism services and air transit for Holy Week, which partially compensated for the prices of tomatoes, onions and gasoline declining.
The inflation figure in the first half of this month, of .1 percent, was under the expected figure of .19 percent. The annual inflation rate declined to 2.71 percent from 2.80 percent in the first half of March.
Inflation has been under 4.0 percent, which is the limit goal for 2016, for 29 fortnights.
Some products with increasing prices in the first half of March 2016 are vacation packages, air transit, limes, housing, motor vehicles, payed television services, corn tortillas, restaurants, milk and natural gas for the home.
On the other hand, some products with declining prices were onion, tomato, low-octane gasoline, nopales, hair products, zucchini, other vegetables, eggs, chayotes and movie theatres.
In the first half of march, core inflation, which does not take into account transitory price changes, grew at .3 percent, or 2.86 percent annually, a growth from the 2.70 percent in the second half of February.
Core inflation for goods and services was .23 percent and .36 percent, respectively.
The consumer price index declined .52 percent in the first half of March, setting its annual inflation rate at 2.28 percent, lower than the 3.10 percent in the previous fortnight. Prices for agricultural products declined by 1.02 percent, and those for energy .2 percent.
The consumer price index for a basic basket of goods declined by .02 percent, with an annual rate of .57 percent, while in the corresponding fortnights in 2015 those figures were .35 and 3.22, respectively.
Cities with inflation levels above the national average were Tepic, Tepatitlán, Chihuahua, Colima, Monclova, Tapachula, Cuernavaca, San Andrés Tuxtla, Guadalajara and Toluca.
Cities with inflation rates below the national average were Mexicali, Tehuantepec, Ciudad Acuña, San Luis Potosí, Fresnillo, Jacona, Chetumal, Huatabampo, Tulancingo and Ciudad Juárez.
