Peruvian economy records greater growth since June 2022

Lima. Peru’s economy registered the highest growth since June 2022 in February, due to the push of the mining sector, in another good performance for the second consecutive month as it recovers from the recession it fell into last year, the Government said on Monday.

National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) reported that the economy advanced 2.85 percent year-on-year in February, also above the estimates of analysts consulted by LSEG, who expected growth of 2.1 percent year-on-year.

The increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was led by the mining and hydrocarbons sector, which rose 15.94 percent, accumulating 13 months of consecutive advances due to higher production of copper, gold and molybdenum, INEI said.

Peru is a large world producer of copper, silver and zinc.

Meanwhile, fishing and manufacturing – important job generators – fell 31.26 percent and 4.68 percent, respectively, due to a lower volume of fishing for direct consumption and a drop in activity in the industry. of precious metals and preserved meat foods, he detailed.

“It should be noted that national production in February shows signs of recovery; however, the result of the month is achieved with respect to a comparison base month that was affected by the occurrence of social conflicts in some areas of the country,” stated the report. the entity.

The growth rate in February is the highest since June 2022, when the economy grew 3.40 percent, according to the INEI.

With this result, Peruvian productive activity accumulated an expansion of 2.10 percent between January and February, while at an annualized level it registered a contraction of 0.12 percent, he detailed.

Peru’s economy, once a star among its Latin American peers, fell 0.55 percent last year due to the impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon, low private investment and political instability resulting from intense social protests with dozens of deaths. .

The Central Bank of Peru maintained its GDP growth projection at 3 percent for 2024 in March.