Analysts interviewed by Reuters forecast a 0.90% decline in the GDP. Economic activity in the world's no. 2 copper producer was dented by a decline in several sectors, including construction, telecommunications, as well as finance and insurance. Peru's finance ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it expects "the economy to register positive rates again as of March, in line with the behavior of the leading indicators of economic activity", helped by a decline in social unrest. (Reporting by Marco Aquino and Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Daniel Wallis)
drazen.jorgic.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) (Adds comments by statistics agency, finance ministry)
April 15 (Reuters) - Peru's gross domestic product (GDP)
shrunk 0.63% in February compared with the same month last year,
the government's INEI statistics agency said on Saturday,
beating expectations by analysts who forecast a bigger decline.
It was a second successive month of decline after the
economy began to contract in January following 22 months of
growth, hurt by nationwide anti-government protests. Peru's
finance ministry, though, said growth should return soon.
Economic activity in February was hit by "continuity of
social conflicts, which resulted in work stoppages, road
blockades, market closures, among other issues, which occurred
in some areas of the country," INEI said in a statement.
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