Mexico central bank split on future interest rate moves

Mexico's central bank policymakers are divided over whether they should cut interest rates in the future to help the economy or raise rates to fend off inflation risks from a weak peso, according to the minutes of its last meeting, released on Friday. All five members of the bank's monetary policy board voted to keep interest rates steady at 4.5 percent in the decision announced on December 2, the minutes showed.
All policymakers saw the current stance as adequate, but while some thought market volatility and a weak peso might require higher rates, others felt they should cut rates ahead of a global slowdown. Analysts following Mexico's economy slightly trimmed growth forecasts for 2012, according to a central bank poll also published on Friday. Analysts see growth of 3.23 percent next year, according to the survey of analysts carried out in mid-December, compared to 3.25 percent in a poll from late November.