Economy - overview The Peruvian economy has become increasingly market-oriented, with majorprivatizations completed since 1990 in the mining, electricity, and telecommunicationsindustries. In the 1980s, the economy suffered from hyperinflation, decliningper capita output, and mounting external debt. Peru was shut off from IMFand World Bank support in the mid-1980s because of its huge debt arrears.An austerity program implemented shortly after the FUJIMORI government tookoffice in July 1990 contributed to a third consecutive yearly contractionof economic activity, but the slide came to a halt late that year, and in1991 output rose 2.4%. After a burst of inflation as the austerity programeliminated government price subsidies, monthly price increases eased to thesingle-digit level and by December 1991 dropped to the lowest increase sincemid-1987. Lima obtained a financial rescue package from multilateral lendersin September 1991, although it faced $14 billion in arrears on its externaldebt. By working with the IMF and World Bank on new financial conditions andarrangements, the government succeeded in ending its arrears by March 1993.In 1992, GDP fell by 2.8%, in part because a warmer-than-usual El Nino currentresulted in a 30% drop in the fish catch, but the economy rebounded as strongforeign investment helped push growth to 7% in 1993, about 13% in 1994, and6.8% in 1995. Growth slowed to about 2.8% in 1996 as the government adopted tight fiscal and monetary policy to reduce the current account deficit andmeet its IMF targets. Capital inflows surged to record levels in early 1997despite the MRTA hostage crisis.

GDP purchasing power parity - $92 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.8% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $3,800 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 13%
industry: 42%
services: 45% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 11.5% (1996)

Labor force
total: 7.6 million (1996 est.)
by occupation: agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport,services

Unemployment rate 8.2%; extensive underemployment (1996)

Budget
revenues: $8.5 billion
expenditures: $9.3 billion including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)

Industries mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing,cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication

Industrial production growth rate 4.5% (1995)

Electricity - capacity 4,520,200 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 16.04 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 519 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; poultry,red meats, dairy products, wool; fish catch of 6.9 million metric tons (1990)

Exports
total value : $6 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: copper, zinc, fishmeal, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, refinedsilver, coffee, cotton
partners: US 19%, Japan 9%, Italy, Germany (1995)

Imports
total value : $7.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel,chemicals, pharmaceuticals
partners: US 21%, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Germany, Brazil (1995)

Debt - external $23.4 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid
recipient : ODA, $363 million (1993)

Currency 1 nuevo sol (S/.) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates nuevo sol (S/.) per US$1 - 2.630 (January 1997), 2.453 (1996), 2.253(1995), 2.195 (1994), 1.988 (1993), 1.246 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Peru on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Peru Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Peru Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.