Peru’s finance ministry data published Tuesday suggest that the economy likely entered a short-lived recession after being hit by mass unrest and extreme weather.
(Bloomberg) — Peru’s finance ministry data published Tuesday suggest that the economy likely entered a short-lived recession after being hit by mass unrest and extreme weather.
Finance minister Alex Contreras told reporters that the economy likely contracted about 1% in June. That would be enough to tip it into a technical recession — defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Contreras himself denied that a second bad quarter would constitute a recession, saying that the definition isn’t as rigid as that. The minister told reporters in Lima that he estimated that the economy would rebound in July, with growth of around 1%.
The economy was hit in early 2023 by the worst social unrest in years, and later by the El Nino weather pattern, which hit farms and paralyzed its large fishmeal industry.
Read More: Latin America’s Star Economy Races Toward a Technical Recession
“The economy was hit, then recovered, then is newly hit, then recovers. What this reflects is the resilience of the Peruvian economy,” Contreras said.
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