Peru holds interest rate steady at 4.25%

By Central Bank News

The central bank of Peru maintained its benchmark monetary policy rate unchanged at 4.25 percent, saying the economy was expanding at close to its potential growth rate and inflation is expected to continue to decline towards the bank’s target range.
    “High uncertainty is still observed in international financial markets and is being reflected in the decline of terms of trade and in prospects of lower growth in both developed and emerging countries,” the Central Reserve Bank of Peru said in a statement.
    Peru’s central bank has held its reference rate steady since April 2011.

    Inflation in June eased to an annual rate of 4.0 percent with core inflation declining to 3.64 percent, the bank said, adding supply factors that drove up inflation were reversing.
    “Annual inflation is therefore expected to decline in a sustained manner in the rest of the year, with inflation converging to the target range.
    Peru’s central bank targets inflation of 2.0 percent, within a range of plus or minus one percentage point. After expanding by 8.8 percent in 2010, Peru’s growth rate eased to 6.9 percent last year, a rate the central bank considers closer to the rate of potential output.

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