Weekly Report - 18 May 2004

PERU | Growth outlook. Economic activity in the first quarter was up 3.9% on the same period of last year, according to the research centre of the Cámara de Comercio de Lima. This falls short of the 4.2% rate it had predicted for both the first half and the whole of this year. The chamber noted, also, that the rate is well short of the annual 7% Peru would need in order to absorb the new entrants to the labour market (about 1,000 a day on average).