Mexico's president to strengthen anti-inflation plan

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he will hold a meeting with his cabinet members to strengthen the country's anti-inflation plan, as financial analysts warn of an upward trend.

"It is likely that we will stay a little above inflation in the United States, but this remains to be seen since we are applying policies that are working for us," he said.

Late last week, a Bank of Mexico executive said the central bank may need to continue tightening monetary policy in order to keep inflation in check.

Analysts polled by the bank expect inflation to rise to over 8% by the end of the year.

Lopez Obrador has argued that without subsidies introduced by the government to keep gas prices down, inflation would have risen to 14%.

"Gas in Mexico is still cheaper than in the United States, let's not even talk about Europe," he said.

(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Raul Cortez Fernandez and Sarah Morland, Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Andrea Ricci)