on Wednesday affirmed that economic activity and employment have recovered quickly in Peru and are above pre-pandemic levels.
"We recovered very fast, because already in the fourth quarter of 2020 we were almost at the same level as the pre-pandemic one. Afterwards, growth has slowed down," Velarde expressed.
"If one compares Peru's fourth quarter in 2020 with those of Germany, France, and Spain, one sees that our recovery was quite faster," he added.
During the Consortium for Economic and Social Research (CIES) XXXIII Annual Seminar, the official forecast that Peru's economy might grow 3% next year —above those of Colombia (1.6%), Mexico (1.2%), Brazil (0.9%), Argentina (0.2%), and Chile ( -0.9%).
"The performance in recent years has not been so good, but it is not bad either. This third quarter (July-August-September), we expect a low growth at 1.7%; nonetheless, there will be a recovery in the fourth quarter, and we (Peruvian economy) will grow close to 3%," he specified.
Growing trend
The BCR governor explained that this projection affirms the trend of maintaining Peruvian economy's growth, despite the fact that inflation has increased this year above the estimated target range.
"The great fear, which existed when the government took office, has disappeared, because nobody expects major radicalism. Businesspeople do not see the (performance of) demand as bad; nonetheless, they think that the country will not do so well," he indicated.
"The non-primary sector (industry and commerce) is showing upward indicators after growing 4.7% during the first half, highlighting the manufacturing sector which increased 6.5%," he said.
Employment
Moreover, the economist stressed that the number of formal jobs has continued to grow at rates higher than 6%, thus exceeding pre-pandemic levels since August 2021.
"Employment has also recovered quite fast; we have stood above pre-pandemic levels for 14 months at the national level, and for about five months in Lima," he pointed out.
"It is as if formal employment had grown since 2019, before the pandemic began, almost 2.3%. Besides, there has been a reshuffle because the agricultural sector grew more over recent months. What grows is linked to services and restaurants, among others," he concluded.