Higher Food Prices Here To Stay

Peruvian headline inflation exceeded expectations in March, increasing by 5.6% y-o-y as rising food prices continued to push higher. We expected an increase in consumer price growth for March, due to pressure from soft commodity prices - notwithstanding the recent correction in soybean prices. Beyond imported inflation, however, we have been highlighting that transportation bottlenecks and nationwide protests led by Peru's farmers in late February would continue to filter through to food prices. Indeed, the contribution of food prices to consumer inflation rose to 4.4pp (up from 3.7pp in February), on the back of annual food inflation of 9.2%, up from 7.8% in February.

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