A change of president and an uptick in GDP is cause for optimism in Peru. However, as the economy improves, the country’s banks face a challenge in prising citizens away from their traditional faith in cash. Silvia Pavoni reports.

Economic growth in commodity-dependent Peru is unlikely to surpass 5% in 2017, prompting the Kuczynski government to devise a plan to boost the economy that focuses on investment in infrastructure and improved productivity. 

The culture of informal work is a topic that Peru’s new president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, is promising to tackle, and which banks are already addressing through financial inclusion initiatives such as the creation of a pioneering, sector-wide e-wallet. Silvia Pavoni investigates its potential to ease one of the country's main pressure points.

In September, Peru risked losing its emerging market status and being downgraded to frontier by stock indices provider MSCI. Lima bourse’s chairman, Christian Laub, explains what it would have meant to the country – and how it managed to hold on to its rank.

The Banker’s Top 200 Latin American banks ranking for 2014 sees Brazilian institutions stay on top, while Argentina maintains its status as most profitable, despite mounting challenges. 

Peru's economic growth may be slowing, but its bank are still turning in impressive results. The big opportunity on the horizon, however, is the launch of a cross-bank digital payment platform, which could bring a considerable increase in the country's financial inclusion levels.

Peru's new finance minister, Alonso Segura, is keen to push ahead with plans to diversify the country's economy, reduce informality and finally move banking into the mobile area.