ook office in July
1990 contributed to a third consecutive yearly contraction of economic
activity, but the slide halted late that year, and output rose 2.4% in
1991. After a burst of inflation as the austerity program eliminated
government price subsidies, monthly price increases eased to the
single-digit level and by December 1991 dropped to the lowest increase
since mid-1987. Lima obtained a financial rescue package from
multilateral lenders in September 1991, although it faced $14 billion
in arrears on its external debt. By working with the IMF and World
Bank on new financial conditions and arrangements, the government
succeeded in ending its arrears by March 1993. In 1992, GDP fell by
2.8%, in part because a warmer-than-usual El Nino current resulted in
a 30% drop in the fish catch. In 1993 the economy rebounded as strong
foreign investment helped push growth to 6%.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $70 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
6% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$3,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
39% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
15%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$2 billion
expenditures:
$1.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $300 million (1992
est.)
Exports:
$3.7 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
copper, zinc, fishmeal, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, refined
silver, coffee, cotton
partners:
US 25%, Japan 9%, Italy, Germany
Imports:
$4.5 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel,
chemicals, pharmaceuticals
partners:
US 30%, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, Germany, Brazil
External debt:
$22 billion (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -5% (1992 est.); accounts for 32% of GDP, including
petroleum
Electricity:
capacity:
5,042,000 kW
production:
17.434 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
760 kWh (1992)
Industries:
mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food
processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal
fabrication
Agriculture:
accounts for 13% of GDP, about 35% of labor force; commercial crops -
coffee, cotton, sugarcane; other crops - rice, wheat, potatoes,
plantains, coca; animal products - poultry, red meats, dairy, wool;
not self-sufficient in grain or vegetable oil; fish catch