Central Bank of Peru raises benchmark interest rate to 7.25%

LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate The base point is 7.% Thursday, as expected, th as the copper-producing Andes monetary policy makers have been raising interest rates in a row in the country to battle stubbornly high inflation.

The benchmark interest rate has risen from a low of 0. % in July 52, with the annual inflation rate reaching 8.% as of October. Peru’s central bank confirmed its previous guidance, saying it expects inflation to fall to 1% in the second half of

To 3% target range. Peru is the second largest in the world 23 copper producers and ranks among the fastest growing economies in the region this century.

despite this , fears of a global slowdown remain weighing on the Andean economy. Peru’s Ministry of Finance recently lowered its growth forecast to between 2.7% and 3% from an earlier estimate of 3.3%.