Central Reserve Bank of Peru Holds Rate at 4.25%

The Central Reserve Bank of Peru held its key monetary policy reference rate unchanged at 4.25%.  The Bank said: "Some current and advanced indicators of activity show a moderation of growth in the economy. For example, even though sales of electricity continued to grow in January, they showed a lower pace of growth than in December. Moreover, indicators of global economic activity have shown a better-than-expected evolution, but uncertainty in international financial markets persists and growth in 2012 is expected to be lower than in the previous year."

Peru's central bank also held the interest rate at 4.25% at its January meeting, while the bank last raised the monetary policy reference rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% in May last year.  Peru reported annual inflation of 4.74% in December, up from 4.2% in October, up from 3.73% in September, 3.35% in August and July, and compared to 2.9% in June, 3.07% in May, 3.34% in April, and above the Bank's 1-3% inflation target.  

The Bank's next Monetary Policy meeting will be held on the 8th of March 2012.  The Peruvian Nuevo Sol (PEN) last traded around 2.68 against the US dollar, with the PEN gaining approx. 3% over the past year.

www.CentralBankNews.inf