Social protests in the regions, especially in the south of the country, have influenced the rise in some perishable foods due to the road blockwhich would cause January and February of this year a reduction in the inflation rate is not yet observedaffirmed the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP).
“In January and February there is this strong increase in the prices of perishable food, what we hope is that from March there will begin to be a downward trend in the inflation rate,” he explained. Adrian Armascentral manager of economic studies of the BCRP, during the presentation of the January 2023 monetary program.
Along these lines, the official pointed out that the mobilizations of the last two weeks have generated pressure on the price of perishable foods such as potatoes, peas, carrots and others.
As an example, he explained that in Cusco the price of chicken went from S/12 to S/16 per kilo, as a result of transportation problems that makes it difficult to import soybean cake by land, an important input for the production of chicken meat, eggs and beef.
“What is prevailing right now by magnitude is the increase in perishable foods, call it potatoes, peas, carrots, etc., those are the items of the food part that have been rising more,” Armas explained.
The protests over the vacancy are one of the causes of the increase in food prices in the last month. Photo: Andean
Price moderation on some products
On the other hand, the executive of the issuing entity also pointed out that a moderation in the price of some products has been observed in line with the international reduction of inputs.
In detail, Armas mentioned that products such as vegetable oil, wheat, noodles, bread, among others, are moderating, as is the price of fuels, which is registering a drop in the value of gasholes.
“Freight rates are also being reduced in line with the international reduction that has occurred,” the official emphasized.
In this way, the BCRP expects that starting in March a drop in the inflation rate will be observed, which would cause inflation expectations to drop. “We expect inflation expectations to be corrected downwards throughout the year, especially based on the information from March,” he concluded.
Tourism loses US$100 million a month
Although the BCRP indicated that it is premature to quantify the economic impact of the protests, it indicated that the greatest impact will be in the south, which represents 15% of the GDP national.
However, he said that only for cancellations US$100 million a month is lost in the tourism sector. Also, He notes that many businesses have closed due to the protests.
Source: Larepublica
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