Weekly Report - 19 May 2022 (WR-22-20)

MEXICO | Combating inflation. The government announced on 16 May that 26 products in the basic basket of goods would be exempt from tariffs for the space of one year in an attempt to combat inflation, which reached an annualised figure of 7.68% in April, its highest level since January 2001. The products are all food (such as eggs, rice, potatoes, tuna, beef, and wheat flour) except for bars of soap. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has also pushed for increased agricultural production in a drive for greater self-sufficiency to reduce dependence on imports.