Peruvian economy has solid macroeconomic foundations to face potential volatility in international financial markets, Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCR) affirmed.
In its Monetary Program for February 2018, the bank said the gross public debt as a percentage of GDP was 24.8% at year-end 2017.
This level of debt is one the lowest in the region, according to
International Monetary Fund (IMF), lower than Chile (24.9%), Paraguay (25.7%), Ecuador (39.0%), Bolivia (45.7%), Colombia (48.5%), Mexico (53.3%), Argentina (53.4%), Uruguay (59.8%), and Brazil (83.4%).
Likewise, the
BCR estimated the public medium- and long-term external debt was 15.7% of GDP by the end of 2017, while the private medium- and long-term external debt reached 17.2% of GDP.
On the other hand, Peru's net international reserves ended the year at US$63.2 billion (30% of GDP) and increased to US$64.3 billion as at 31 January 2018.
Peru's terms of trade rose 7.3% in 2017, after five years of negative growth. Plus, the favorable trend is expected to continue in the coming years.
Additionally, the country's trade balance registered a surplus for the second year in a row, at US$6.266 billion, which is higher than the 2016 surplus (US$1.888 billion).
(END) MDV/MDV/RMB
Published: 2/12/2018