MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peruvian economy contracts 18,06% in June year to year

The June drop is less severe than the 18.15% contraction analysts had estimated, and a step up from the 32.75% GDP decline in May.

Peru’s economy contracted 18.06% in June versus the same period a year earlier, the government of president Martin Vizcarra said on Sunday, the fourth straight month of contraction due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Peru, the world’s no. 2 copper producer, imposed a strict lockdown in March, though has recently looked to reopen key sectors of the economy.

The June drop is less severe than the 18.15% contraction analysts had estimated, and a step up from the 32.75% GDP decline in May.

In the first half of the year, the economy contracted 17.37% compared with the same period last year, Peru’s official INEI statistics body said, while it dropped 7.25% in the 12 months to June.