By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s economy contracted 18.06% in June versus the same period a year earlier, the South American country’s government said on Saturday, the fourth straight month of contraction due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Peru, the world’s no. 2 copper producer, imposed a strict lockdown in March, though has recently looked to reopen key sectors of the economy.
The June drop is less severe than the 18.15% contraction analysts had estimated in a Reuters poll, and a step up from the 32.75% GDP decline in May.
In the first half of the year, the economy contracted 17.37% compared with the same period last year, Peru’s official INEI statistics body said, while it dropped 7.25% in the 12 months to June.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
