Peru has taken its fair share of economic and political knocks – but it has come out fighting. Monica Campbell reports from Lima, where the mood is upbeat.Despite the economic crises experienced by its South American neighbours and ongoing political unrest at home, Peru’s financial sector has managed to pull through and is now poised for growth. Although profits at most banks are still far from showy, a better regulatory and economic climate is setting the foundation to support the system’s rebuilding.
Peruvian bankers are a tough lot. Over the years they have weathered a series of financial storms, from hyperinflation and economic “shock therapy” in the late 1980s to recession in the late 1990s. The political scene has also been subject to squalls. In 2000, after a decade in power, then-president Alberto Fujimori abruptly resigned, leaving the government in the hands of an interim president. The eventual entry of the current president, Alejandro Toledo, has been far from smooth, with public protests on the rise over general frustration with his government’s lack of success in reducing poverty and creating jobs.
