© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man sells groceries at a stall at the Surco market in Lima, Peru, August 31, 2018. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s economy slowed for a second straight month, missing forecasts for the final month of 2022, figures from the national statistics institute showed on Wednesday, as the country grapples with a wave of social unrest that began in early December.
The Andean nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.86% year-on-year in the month, while economists had expected growth of 1.25%, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll.
Protests have rocked the world’s second-largest producer since the December 7 ouster and arrest of former president Pedro Castillo. Clashes between protesters and security forces blocked roads and left dozens dead.
The central bank’s Economic Studies Unit said last week that the unrest is likely to have affected the country’s economy and inflation as it has also hit the country’s infrastructure and transport network.
The latest figure puts Peru’s economic growth at 2.68% in 2022, a sharp decline from the 13.61% jump the country — historically one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies — recorded in 2021.
The figure for 2021, the highest recorded in Peru, is the result of a rapid recovery from the decline caused by the coronavirus pandemic.