Mexico’s core inflation worries, Colombia’s imbalances

The rise in Mexican core inflation last month looks worrying on the face of it, but it was driven by excise duty hikes, which Banxico is likely to look through it. A 25bp interest rate cut at the March meeting remains in play. Elsewhere, while the Q4 GDP data from Colombia due next Monday are likely to be relatively weak, the more important point is that growth over the past year or so has become increasingly unbalanced. That's likely to pave the way for more interest rate hikes in the coming months.