Peru holds rate steady, inflation still in target range

    Peru's central bank maintained its policy rate at 4.25 percent, as expected, saying inflation is still in its target range and the economy is growing at a pace that is close to its potential.
   The Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP), which has held rates steady for two years since April 2011, said economic growth has stabilized around its long-term sustainable level even though the sectors that are linked to markets abroad show weak performance.
    "Inflation is expected to coverage to the 2 percent target in the next months due to the improvement observed in the food supply conditions, due to a pace of growth of economic activity close to the economy's level of potential output, and due to inflation expectations anchored to the target range in a context in which weak production indicators persist in the global economy," the board of BCRP said.
    Peru's inflation rate was 2.59 percent in March, slightly up from February's 2.45 percent but down from January's 2.87 percent, and within the central bank's target range of 1.0-3.0 percent.
    Peru's economy expanded by 6.3 percent in 2012 and in the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product was up by 0.6 percent from the third quarter for annual growth of 5.9 percent, down from the third quarter's rate of 6.8 percent.

  www.CentralBankNews.info