Central Reserve Bank (BCR) Governor Julio Velarde on Wednesday said it is probable that the issuing entity will no longer raise its reference interest rate much higher than already recorded.
It currently stands at 6.75%.
"Our task is to fight inflation. We probably won't have to raise the interest rate much higher, but that depends on the data which comes out," he said.
During his participation in the
Perumin 35 Mining Convention, Velarde recalled that the inflation target (between 1% and 3%) in Peru had started to be exceeded in July 2021.
"Afterwards, we have been increasing (the rate) by 50 basis points every month, except for the last one (September) when we increased it by 25 points," he added.
The BCR governor acknowledged that he is concerned about the annualized inflation rate (8.4% in August), since it is the highest figure in the last 25 years. Besides, there has never been such a long period of inflation outside the target range.
"We are expecting the inflation rate to reach 3% by the end of next year; nonetheless, we expect (it to stand) between 7% and 8% this 2022," he projected.
"It has already been going down for three months, although we don't know if it will go down this month because inflation in September last year stood at 0.4%, and it seems that it would stand at 0.4% or 0.5% this September; that means it could go up a little. Yet the largest decrease will be observed between the months of March and July next year," he added.
Velarde reiterated the explanation saying that inflation is a global phenomenon, adding that in the case of Peru it is due to a supply shock.
(END) RMC/CNA/MVB
Publicado: 28/9/2022