The international environment is becoming increasingly favorable for Peru. Over the past month, the global scenario has been defined mainly by three factors: the election of Joe Biden as President of the U.S., the successful progress of vaccines in their last stages of development, and the alarming increase in the number of infections and deaths from COVID-19 in some developed countries. Although the latter is holding back economic recovery in some countries, the first two events have significantly improved the prospects for global economic recovery for the upcoming year, specifically from its second half. The reaction of financial markets to these events has been positive. This, added to the accelerated economic recovery in China and the continued expansive monetary impulse at the global level, has created a favorable international environment for Peru.
In addition, at the local level there are four main drivers of economic activity. First, the public sector impulse increased significantly in October. Second, credit continues to grow at high rates. Third, private investment is recovering rapidly, mainly due to specific factors such as home improvements and the demand for information and communication technologies (ICTs). Fourth, the improvement in the public health situation has made it possible to continue the process of economic reopening.
Unfortunately, these improvements in the business environment have been overshadowed by the new political crisis. Thus, despite the improved global context and the greater dynamism of economic activity, the considerable uncertainty caused by the recent political crisis generated a significant risk to economic growth, as high uncertainty could delay the recovery of private investment in productive capacity increases.
Going forward, political uncertainty will be the main obstacle to economic recovery. The evolution of regulatory risk in the business environment, the relationship between the Executive branch and Congress, and the government’s ability to deal with the health and economic crisis will all be crucial to determine the pace of recovery in investment and formal employment in the upcoming months. These factors will be extremely important as the economic situation of families remains strongly deteriorated
The Government’s main allies, Fuerza Popular and APP, leveraged the crisis triggered by the murder of 13 mine workers in Pataz to strengthen their influence over ministerial appointments.
So far this year, the economic recovery appears to have consolidated, with growth becoming more broad-based. Domestic demand has shown solid performance.
In the first quarter of the year, economic growth remained solid (3.6%). This was the result of a combination of favorable dynamics for GDP.
