Economics

Peru Lifts Key Rate to 6% as Inflation Hits 25-Year High

  • Policy makers raise the benchmark rate to 6% from 5.5%
  • Tightening cycle likely nears its end as inflation seen easing

A shopper browses produce at a market in Lima, Peru.

Photographer: Miguel Yovera/Bloomberg
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Peru’s central bank raised its key interest rate by half a percentage point to fight the fastest inflation in 25 years that’s been fueling social tension in the Andean country.

The bank on Thursday lifted the benchmark rate to 6%, the highest since 2009 and in line with expectations of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It is the 12th straight hike in a cycle that added 575 basis points to borrowing costs since August.