El Peru sube los requerimientos de reserva de sus bancos para combatir la inflacion. La medida que toma efecto hoy dia sube la reserva en 50 puntos basicos. El requerimiento de reservas era del 12.4% para soles y 37% para dolares en Febrero.
Peru Boosts Reserve Requirements For Third Month to Cool Surging Inflation
By John Quigley - Apr 1, 2011 8:50 AM ET
Peru’s central bank raised banks’ reserve requirements for a third straight month after higher food prices drove the monthly inflation rate to a 33-month high in March.
Policy makers increased the average reserve requirement by a half-point, after quarter-point rises in February and March, the central bank said yesterday. The measure, which takes effect today, is designed to contain inflation expectations amid rising wheat, corn and crude oil prices, the bank said.
Higher international grain prices coupled with an expansive fiscal policy have increased pressure on the central bank to tighten the money supply to rein in economic growth running at an annual rate of 10 percent, said Juan Carlos Odar, an analyst at Banco de Credito del Peru, the country’s biggest bank.
Peruvian banks’ average reserve requirement was 12.4 percent for soles and 37 percent for dollars in February, according to central bank data.
“They’re increasing reserve requirements more aggressively” to keep inflation under control, Odar said in a telephone interview from Lima. “The central bank may need to keep tightening because fiscal policy remains expansive.”
Consumer prices rose 0.7 percent last month, the steepest rise since June 2008, the national statistics agency said today. Economists expected a 0.48 percent gain, according the median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The agency reports annual inflation after 11:00 a.m. New York time.
The annual rate, which rose to a five-month high of 2.2 percent in February, will probably be about 3 percent this year, the ceiling of the target range, central bank President Julio Velarde told reporters yesterday.
‘Lax’ Fiscal Policy
Peru’s economy is in danger of overheating because of a “lax” fiscal policy that may force the central bank to raise rates to 5.5 percent this year, Morgan Stanley said last week.
The government cut the sales tax last month and froze fuel prices following rises in international grain and crude oil prices. Peru is a net importer of crude oil, soybeans, corn and wheat.
The central bank will probably increase its benchmark rate for the ninth time in 12 meetings on April 7, increasing the benchmark rate by a quarter-point to 4 percent, according to six analysts in a Bloomberg survey. One economist expects the bank to pause at 3.75 percent.
“These adjustments in monetary policy are aimed at preventing increases in international food and energy prices from rising inflation expectations in a context of strong growth in domestic demand,” the central bank said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Policy makers will continue to use monetary instruments to allow high, sustainable economic growth rates without sparking demand-led inflation pressures, it said.
Higher international corn prices fuelled rises in the cost of chicken last month, said Hugo Perea, chief economist at BBVA Banco Continental, the country’s second largest bank. Domestic vegetable prices rose because of increased rainfall in the Peruvian Andes damaged crops and blocked roads, Perea said in a telephone interview from Lima.
The nation’s consumer price index is the second-most exposed to food inflation among emerging markets, after the Philippines, according to the central bank. Food and drink costs account for 38 percent of the index.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Quigley in Lima at
jquigley8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at