Peru: Inflation eases in January
Consumer prices increased 0.04% in January over the previous month, following December’s 0.78% increase. January’s milder rise was the lowest reading since April. Looking at the details of the release, falling transport costs and a milder rise in food and beverages prices led to the smaller overall rise.
Inflation came in at 5.7% in January, down from December’s 6.4% which had represented the highest inflation rate since January 2009. Nevertheless, annual average inflation rose to 4.2% in January (December: 4.0%). Lastly, core inflation eased to 3.1% in January, from December’s 3.8%.
Commenting on the outlook, Sergio Armella, economist at Goldman Sachs, stated:
“In our assessment, going forward inflation will rise further and remain elevated with the headline print likely to peak close to 7% during Q2 2022. In consequence, our view is that additional rate hikes are warranted given the challenging inflation outlook and heightened policy and political uncertainty and risk.”