Country Profile

Buoyed by high commodity prices and market-friendly policies, Peru has been one of the best-performing and most stable economies in Latin America over the past decade. Rapid economic growth has, in turn, spurred an emerging middle class and notable social gains, with the poverty rate falling by more than half from 2004 to 2014. Today the challenge facing Peru, as well as other commodity-driven economies in Latin America, is how to diversify its economy, ensure inclusive economic growth and sustain years of poverty reduction amid falling demand for commodities. Since coming to power in mid-2011, President Ollanta Humala has tried to maintain a balance between the expectations of the middle class, business leaders, foreign investors and the demands of local communities in Peru’s mineral-rich areas, with varying degrees of success. As the country heads to the national election in April 2016, economic recovery and anti-mining protests are likely to remain top issues in the country’s political agenda. This chapter contains a viewpoint from President Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso, and interviews with Ana Maria Sanchez Vargas, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Jorge Familiar, Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank.