The Mexican Price and Quotation Index (IPC) grew 16% at the end of February 4 compared to the end of 2020.

To calculate the Price and Quotation Index, a group of the 35 most traded shares on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) is taken as a basis.

After registering a fall of 8.2% in 2020, the Mexican economy accumulated a growth of 6.1% in the first three quarters of 2021.

Meanwhile, consumer inflation for 2021 was 7.4%, above the Bank of Mexico’s inflation target of 3.0% (+/- 1.0%) for the year, 4.2 percentage points higher than consumer inflation of 3.2 % for 2020 and 4.5 percentage points above the 2.8% consumer inflation for 2019.

This trend reflects that inflation continues to be affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, including government measures put in place to mitigate the spread.

Throughout 2021, according to the Mexican government, the effect of the pandemic on supply chains, goods and services has had a profound impact on prices, leading to higher production costs.

The reopening of activities such as tourism and entertainment has also contributed to the increase in inflation in the services sector.

Price and Quotation Index

On February 4, 2022, the exchange rate of the Mexican peso against the US dollar closed at 20.7325, a depreciation of 4.1% in dollar terms compared to the rate on December 31, 2020.

In this context, the Price and Quotation Index stood at 51,255.3 points, which represents an increase of 16.3% compared to the level as of December 31, 2020.

According to preliminary figures from the Open Unemployment Rate, Mexico’s unemployment rate was 3.5% as of December 31, 2021, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the rate as of December 31, 2020.

To date, more than 76 million people have been vaccinated with at least one of the two required doses of the Covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in Mexico.

On January 31, 2022, Mexico began administering a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to people 40 years of age and older.

In a landmark event, on January 26, 2022, Mexico and the United States launched the Binational Group Against Arms Trafficking, a group made up of security and law enforcement agencies from both countries.

Above all, the group’s goals are to confiscate illegal weapons and ammunition and to prosecute illegal arms traffickers on both sides of the border.

In addition, the two countries agreed to speed up case processing, increase extraditions, strengthen operations on the shared border, modernize border inspection technology, and increase the exchange of ballistic and intelligence information.