Recasts throughout

Nov 23 (Reuters) – Mexico’s annual inflation ticked up in its mid-November reading, data from statistics agency INEGI showed on Thursday, further backing views that the central bank will maintain interest rates at their current all-time high until next year.

The Bank of Mexico has kept the door open to start discussing monetary easing in future meetings after consumer prices dropped from the two-decade high seen last year, but has also said it may hold its key rate at 11.25% “for some time” as inflation has yet to fully converge to official targets.

In the year through mid-November, headline inflation in Latin America’s second-largest economy hit 4.32%, up from 4.26% at the end of last month, driven by a seasonal rise in power rates as summer subsidies came to an end in some cities.

That roughly met economist expectations of 4.31% in a Reuters poll but maintained inflation above the target of 3%, plus or minus 1 percentage point, making it unlikely for the central bank to cut borrowing costs at its December meeting.

A relief sign, nonetheless, came from the closely monitored core inflation index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices and continued to slide, reaching 5.33% after the 5.5% seen in October.

Economists had project it to hit 5.31%.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan)

((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5047-3352;))

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