Peru cut interest rates for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, joining a regional trend as inflation ebbs across Latin America.
The central bank reduced its policy rate to 7.50% from 7.75% on Thursday, as expected by a majority of analysts.
“This decision doesn’t necessarily imply a cycle of successive reductions in the interest rate,” the bank said in its statement.
Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic have already started easing monetary policy, while Mexico and Colombia are expected to follow suit over the next months. Consumer price pressures are in retreat following the post-pandemic spike, when demand picked up before supply chains had fully recovered.
Peru’s inflation rate has been gradually dropping toward its 1% to 3% target range from a quarter-century high last year. Consumer prices rose 5.6% in August from a year earlier.
The interest rate cut also comes after Peru entered a recession, as mass unrest caused an economic contraction at the beginning of the year that was extended when bad weather from the El Nino phenomenon hit crops and fishing.
Read more: Peru Struggles to Revive Its Days as Latin America’s Top Economy
The finance ministry last month slashed its forecast for economic growth this year to 1.1%, from 2.5%.
(Adds quote from central bank in third paragraph)
