Middle class in Peru strengthened its position as an economic power group, which is one of the key results of the policies implemented in the social arena, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative for Peru and Paraguay Alejandro Santos said.
“Poverty rates have significantly decreased, going from 60% in 2004 to less than 25% at the end of last year,” he told El Peruano official daily.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) poverty in Peru went from 23.9% in 2013 to 22.7% in 2014, that is, 289,000 people were lifted out of poverty.
A recent IDB report revealed that around 328,000 Peruvian citizens joined the country’s middle class in 2014, which means this sector of the population has increased to 15.83 million.
In this regard, effective social policies have been adopted. However, economic growth in the last years explains the larger number of people with greater purchasing power in the country.
He continued: “The growth can be seen just by going to the mall and observing the demand. People don’t just window shop, but buy items, as they get more income now.”
There is a new and strengthened middle class with economic power in Peru. Obviously this implied an improvement in the quality of life, Per capita income doubled over the past 10 years, which is an economic success.
Increased purchasing power translated into a pressure on the demand of scarce services or goods such as quality air and drinking water. “Nevertheless, there are more chances to cope with those problems if the economy is strengthened.”
The IMF representative said these problems frequently occur in big cities.
“All major metropolitan areas face this type of situations. New York, Beijing, London, Moscow and Lima experience these difficulties,” pointed out.
(END) DOP/JCC/RMB
Published: 6/19/2015