Peru’s Central Bank: Poverty Rate Could Drop to 17 Percent by 2016

The Central Bank estimates that Peru’s poverty rate will decline to 17 percent by 2016 if the country is able to maintain its current economic growth and the government implements policies to better redistribute resources. In 2010, Peru’s poverty rate was 31.3 percent, compared to 43 percent in 2000, state news agency Andina reported. “The [...]

Peru GDP rises 7.10% in May

Peru’s economy climbed 7.10% higher in May compared to the same month last year, national statistics and information bureau INEI reported on Friday. The growth in the gross domestic product was led by the finance and insurance sector, which was up 14.21% in May. The transport and communications sector expanded 11.77%, while the electricity and water utilities [...]

What should Peru do (2)?

“What should Peru do (1)?” appeared on June 4. Ollanta Humala 51.3% of the vote against 48.7% for Keiko Fujimori. Those who stayed up a good part of election night were rewarded with the news that the clear winner was Steven Levitsky, a Harvard professor of government who is teaching in Lima this year. (The [...]

Economist promises to back down from supporting Humala if proposals not considered

Economist Kurt Burneo, a former president of Peru’s Banco de la Nacion and director of the Central Bank, says he will stop supporting presidential hopeful Ollanta Humala’s campaign if the latter does not take into consideration his proposals, daily Peru.21 reported. Burneo is one of over 100 leading centrists who recently decided to publicly back Humala, who [...]

World Bank: Next gov’t needs to maintain macroeconomic, fiscal policies to reduce poverty

The World Bank’s former director for Peru and other Andean nations, Felipe Jaramillo, called on the country’s next government to maintain macroeconomic and fiscal policies to reduce poverty. “While it’s true that there is still a big stretch to go, we want to highlight the achievements the country has made between 2000 and today, and [...]

Government to reduce general sales tax by 1 point

The government has presented a bill to Congress to reduce the general sales tax, IGV, to 18%, one point below the current 19%, and to reduce the banking transaction tax, ITF, from 0.05% to 0.005%.  The decision was announced yesterday by Finance minister Ismael Benavides, who said the measure aims to reduce inflation caused by a [...]

IMF head foresees Peru’s GDP per capita doubling in 10 years

Peru’s GDP per capita should double in less than 10 years if the country maintains an annual economic growth of 6 percent to 7 percent, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was in Lima on Thursday. “To double the GDP per capita from $5,000 to $10,000 is going to change [...]

INEI: Peru’s economy up 3.63 percent in January

Peru’s economy grew by 3.63 percent in January compared to the same month in 2009, the National Statistics and Information Institute, or INEI, said in a statement. The increase in Peru’s gross domestic product was led by the country’s construction sector, which expanded by 10.17 percent. Construction’s growth in January was due to a strong [...]

Kuczynski: report on massive job cuts “not exaggerated,” Peru to face dire times ahead

A day after Peru President Alan García labeled a National Society of Industries’ report indicating recent job losses topping 60,000 as “unnecessarily alarming,” Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, former finance minister and cabinet chief under President Toledo, stood vouched for the report’s veracity and warned of difficult times ahead. The National Society of Industries’ report is “not [...]