Mexico central bank board warns of Q2 economic weakness

MEXICO CITY: All five of the Mexican central bank's board members agreed the slowdown in Mexico's economy had been larger than anticipated, with "signs of weakness" in the second quarter, minutes from the June 27 monetary policy meeting showed on Thursday.

Some board members underscored the possibility of further downgrades to Mexico's sovereign and state-oil firm Pemex debt, according to the minutes. However, with stubbornly high core inflation, the majority of members said the bank should maintain a "prudent and cautious" monetary policy.

Four members of the Bank of Mexico voted to hold the overnight interbank rate unchanged at 8.25% at the meeting, while board member Gerardo Esquivel Hernandez voted for a 25 basis point cut.