PERU NEWS

According the Central Bank, Peru's GDP expanded by 9.9% in December of last year, spurred by growth in non-primary sectors, which grew by 11.1% including a surge of 8.4% in manufacturing and of 24.5% in construction. This forced the Bank to upgrade its previous projections of total output for the year to a 13 year high 9%.

Internal demand grew by 11.6% for the year, reflecting a strong tendency of growth for private consumption motivated by consumer confidence, employment expansion and availability of credit. In 2007, the number of credit cards in use reached 5.2 million with an average credit per user of close to 2,200 soles, representing an increase of 37.5% compared to the previous year.

Private investment also had a strong performance which was reflected by the increase in cement consumption aand capital goods imports for the year (15.5% and 44.3% respectively). Exports rose by 16% to a record US $27.6 billion. Rising prices for commodities such as copper, zinc and gold have helped triple Peru's annual exports in five years.

The Ministry of Finance expects exports of $28 billion this year to help drive 7 percent economic growth. Public investment is also expected to reach new heights in 2008 which, combined with standing private investment commitments, could reach a total of US$ 5.5 billion. Growth woupld also be spurred by the benefits of hosting the ALC-EU Summit in May and the APEC Summit in November.