Mexico: Retail Sales Rise

Mexican retail sales rose unexpectedly to 8.9 percent year-on-year in April, more than double the 4.4 percent rise in March. Mexico’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate 12 of the last 15 months to 9.75 percent. The country’s inflation rate was 3.4 percent in May, the lowest rate since the bank began calculating the index in 1983.