FocusEconomics: Peru economic expansion accelerates to over one-year high in March

FocusEconomics: Peru economic expansion accelerates to over one-year high in March

Peruvian economic activity took a notable boost in March 2018, increasing 3.93% year-on-year, much faster than the annual growth rate of 2.9% observed last February, highlights the latest report “LatinFocus Consensus Forecast” by FocusEconomics.

“March’s result marked the third consecutive acceleration, following three successive months of softening growth in Q4 (the fourth quarter of) 2017,” it stresses.

A supportive external sector and healthy domestic demand drove growth in the third month.

Likewise, exports rose on the back of growing sales of mining, agricultural, metal-mechanical and chemical products to buyers abroad.

The annual pace of export growth in March was robust, coming in at double-digit. On the domestic demand side, growth in retail sales gathered pace compared to the previous month, as did consumer credit.

Moreover, soaring imports also signaled robust domestic demand.

“Annual economic growth in March was generally broad-based, with the mining and hydrocarbons, agriculture, trade, transport, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors leading the way,” it points out.

Consequently, annual average variation in economic activity came in at 2.7% in March, up from February’s 2.5%.