By Juan Montes 

MEXICO CITY -- Bank of Mexico Gov. Agustín Carstens will stay at his position until the end of November, five months more than initially expected, as the country goes through a difficult economic patch of quickly rising inflation, currency volatility and low growth.

Mr. Carstens reconsidered his decision to step down from the Bank of Mexico in July and agreed with President Enrique Peña Nieto to stay longer at the helm of the central bank, a top official at the central bank who spoke on condition of anonymity said Monday.

The Bank of Mexico announced in December that Mr. Carstens, 58 years old, would step down in July to become general manager of the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements.

Since then, Mexico's economic outlook has quickly worsened. Inflation rose in January to 4.72% -- the highest since 2012 -- after a steep jump in gasoline prices at the beginning of the year, while most economists expect the economy to slow down to 1.6% growth this year. The peso hit in January a record low against the U.S. dollar.

Mr. Peña Nieto's government had wanted Mr. Carstens to stay at the bank to help Mexico's economy navigate what is likely to be a complicated renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Carstens is Mexico's most respected economic official at the international financial stage, having previously served as deputy director of the International Monetary Fund.

Write to Juan Montes at juan.montes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2017 17:27 ET (22:27 GMT)

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