RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Inflation maintained its trend in August, after reaching the highest peak so far this year in July (1.01%). “The annual inflation rate, corresponding to the past 12 months, shows a 4.95% variation,” INEI reported.
The 4.2% accumulated variation from January through August exceeds the annual target range of between 1.0% and 3.0% set by the Central Bank for 2021.
In August, the items that led the price rise were housing rent, fuel and electricity, up 2.53%, followed by food and beverages up 1.38%, and transportation and communications with a 0.81% increase.
Monetary authorities attribute the higher inflation in recent months to international factors, such as the strength of the dollar.
Peru’s economy was struggling due to the impact of the pandemic and fell into recession from 2020 through last June, when it managed to bounce back. Because of the pandemic, Peru semi-paralyzed production for over 100 days in 2020, resulting in a sharp drop in GDP of 11.12%.
In all of 2020, Peru posted inflation of 1.97%.