| Peru |
| Economy - overview: The Peruvian economy has become increasingly market-oriented,
with major privatizations completed since 1990 in the mining, electricity,
and telecommunications industries. In the 1980s, the economy suffered from
hyperinflation, declining per capita output, and mounting external debt.
Peru was shut off from IMF and World Bank support in the mid-1980s because
of its huge debt arrears. An austerity program implemented shortly after
the FUJIMORI government took office in July 1990 contributed to a third
consecutive yearly contraction of economic activity, but the slide came
to a halt late that year, and in 1991 output rose 2.4%. After a burst of
inflation as the austerity program eliminated government price subsidies,
monthly price increases eased to the single-digit level and by December
1991 dropped to the lowest increase since mid-1987. Lima obtained a financial
rescue package from multilateral lenders in September 1991, although it
faced $14 billion in arrears on its external debt. By working with the IMF
and World Bank on new financial conditions and arrangements, the government
succeeded in ending its arrears by March 1993. In 1992, GDP fell by 2.8%,
in part because a warmer-than-usual El Nino current resulted in a 30% drop
in the fish catch, but the economy rebounded as strong foreign investment
helped push growth to 7% in 1993, about 13% in 1994, and 6.8% in 1995. Growth
slowed to about 2.8% in 1996 as the government adopted tight fiscal and
monetary policy to reduce the current account deficit and meet its IMF targets.
Capital inflows surged to record levels in early 1997 despite the MRTA hostage
crisis. GDP: purchasing power parity - $92 billion (1996 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 2.8% (1996 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,800 (1996 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 13% industry: 42% services: 45% (1994) Inflation rate - consumer price index: 11.5% (1996) Labor force: total: 7.6 million (1996 est.) by occupation: agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport, services Unemployment rate: 8.2%; extensive underemployment (1996) Budget: revenues: $8.5 billion expenditures: $9.3 billion including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.) Industries: mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication Industrial production growth rate: 4.5% (1995) Electricity - capacity: 4,520,200 kW (1995) Electricity - production: 16.04 billion kWh (1995) Electricity - consumption per capita: 519 kWh (1995 est.) Agriculture - products: coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; poultry, red meats, dairy products, wool; fish catch of 6.9 million metric tons (1990) Exports: total value : $6 billion (f.o.b., 1996) commodities: copper, zinc, fishmeal, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, refined silver, coffee, cotton partners: US 19%, Japan 9%, Italy, Germany (1995) Imports: total value : $7.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996) commodities: machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals partners: US 21%, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Germany, Brazil (1995) Debt - external: $23.4 billion (1996 est.) Economic aid: recipient : ODA, $363 million (1993) Currency: 1 nuevo sol (S/.) = 100 centimos Exchange rates: nuevo sol (S/.) per US$1 - 2.630 (January 1997), 2.453 (1996), 2.253 (1995), 2.195 (1994), 1.988 (1993), 1.246 (1992) Fiscal year: calendar year |