MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru's post-pandemic economic recovery faster than that elsewhere

The greatest fears of radical changes under Castillo are gone, Velarde explained

Peru quickly bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic, even if compared with other countries in the region and the world, according to reports released Wednesday in Lima.

“We recovered very rapidly because already in the fourth quarter of 2020 we were almost at the pre-pandemic level,” Central Bank (BCRP) President Julio Velarde said during the XXXIII Annual Seminar of the Consortium for Economic and Social Research (CIES).

Velarde also admitted that although economic “growth has slowed down”, the recovery was “quite fast” compared to Germany, France, and Spain.

He also forecasted that Peru will grow 3 % in 2023, while other countries in the region have much lower projections: Colombia 1.6 %, Mexico 1.2 %, Brazil 0.95 %, Argentina 0.2 %, and Chile (-0.9 %).

“This third quarter we expect a low growth of 1.7 %, but in the fourth quarter there will be a recovery and we will grow close to 3 %,” he added.

According to Velarde, this projection ratifies Peru's economic growth despite inflation above the target range of between 1 and 3 %. It is projected to close 2022 at 7.8 % and then “return to the expected range by the end of next year, due to the clearly uncertain situation.”

“The great fear that existed” when President Pedro Castillo's administration began in July 2021 has disappeared, Velarde stressed.

In this scenario, Peruvian agro-exports resulted in US$ 6.113 billion worth of revenues between January and August this year, which meant an expansion of 23.5 %, the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) reported Wednesday.

Non-traditional agricultural exports totaled US$ 5,401 million, 15.1 % higher than in the same period of the previous year, while traditional agricultural exports during the first eight months of the year reached US$712 million, an increase of 175.4 % over 2021.

Sales of non-decaffeinated coffee and cane molasses went up by 213.1 % and 22.6 %, respectively, it was reported.

In August alone, agricultural exports reached US$ 1.026 billion, a growth of 30.6 % when compared to the same month in 2021.

Among the top 10 destination countries for Peru's agricultural exports were the United States, The Netherlands, Spain, Ecuador, China, Chile, Germany, England, Colombia, and Mexico, which together accounted for 76.3 % of the total value exported.

(Source: Xinhua)