MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Food prices challenge Peru's economy and president's approval

Most of the Peruvians “do not feel represented by Congress”.

Peruvian president Alan Garcia's approval rating fell to 26% (28% in March) despite the strong performance of Peru's economy, the fastest growing in South America, according to an Ipsos Apoyo survey published in Lima's main newspaper El Comercio.

Garcia's disapproval rating climbed to 70% with 57% of surveys saying that rising food prices were the main reason behind their disapproval. When Garcia took office in mid 2006 his approval rating stood at 63%. The Peruvian economy boosted by the mining sector and textiles has been growing strongly but a majority of Peruvians, 12 million, still subsist in poverty. A significant 34% disapprove of the current economic policy and only 37% of those surveyed agreed or accepted that Peru was the country in the region with the lowest inflation "When people see these (growth) figures and a minister says ... that tomorrow we will be a richer country and on the way to joining the first world ..., what they see is what they have and their condition, and I imagine what they feel is anger," political analyst Alberto Adrianzen said. The government this week sent troops banging on the doors of the poor in night-time operations to hand out groceries to counter the specter of political instability. Over the last few months, prices for basic staples like rice and oil have surged at double-digit rates, eroding the spending power of the poor. Peru depends on food imports, so residents are feeling the pinch of rising global commodity prices. The central bank has slashed tariffs, raised interest rates and increased deposit requirements for banks this year in a bid to ease inflationary pressures. However the Ipsos Apoyo opinion poll had some other interesting revelations, for example that 81% of those polled "do not feel represented by Congress". Similarly the ranking of problems faced by Peru for the first time has seen corruption take the leading post, 41%, up from 38% in March, followed by unemployment 38% (53%); poverty, 36% (39%); crime 28% (35%) and cost of living 11% (24%). The latest poll surveyed 1,000 people in 16 cities across Peru between April 15 to 17 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.