Peruvian economy should accelerate in the quarters following natural disasters, as empirical evidence suggests, Economy and Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne projected on Monday.
"As you can see, all of the countries see a deceleration at the time when they were hit by natural
disaster and then they pull up," the cabinet member said in this sense.
"They pull up mainly due to the greater expenditure mostly from the public sector, but also from the private sector, and we hope to see ourselves going more or less the same," he added.
As is known, the Inca nation was at the mercy of "Coastal El Niño" phenomenon in the January-March period. It was characterized by heavy rains, landslides and floods.
According to the government official, Peru has "seen a rebound of
mineral prices. So far, this is something new that is boosting exports."
Business survey
Thorne also addressed business expectations in the Andean country, following a survey issued by the Central Bank.
"What we have seen in the most recent publication —that is for April— is that we have seen a rebound in expectations, both for the economy for three months and twelve months," the minister pointed out.
He indicated the expectations —for the next three month-period— are obviously very affected by natural disasters and the Lava Jato effect.
"[However], expectations start turning around, and we hope to keep them moving up," he underscored.
Thorne recalled that —once the Kuczynski administration had taken office— government officials noted that Peru's problem was "being too exposed" to one single growth driver: mining activities.
Thus, they realized new drivers of growth were essential for boosting the economy.
"And we identified two: one is infrastructure and the other is productivity through formalization," he underlined.
Finally, he noted Peru expects to move towards a "long-term growth of 5%."
"The IMF says 4%; we say 5%, I don't think that's a big difference," he concluded.
Remarks were made in Toronto Canada, where the government official has joined the
inPeru North America Road Show.