Peru - Methods of Payment Peru - Methods of Payment
Peru’s current economic situation is a far cry from that of the mid-to-late-1990s, when its banks were heavily dependent on foreign credit lines (59% of the banks’ credit sources in the first half of 1998 came from foreign credit lines). Before the 1990s, Peru suffered from chronic balance of payments, fiscal deficits, and low foreign reserves. As of March 2019, Peru had over $63 billion in net foreign reserves. Most banks’ funding comes from domestic deposits. The local branches of foreign banks are strong. Private pension funds control large and growing assets. The financial system enjoys a low delinquency ratio. Additionally, the Ministry of Economy and Finance saved close to $6 billion from fiscal surpluses in the 2006-2008 period. The Peruvian government used part of these savings to address the effects of the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, when Peru had a $2.4 billion fiscal deficit. From 2009 to 2013, Peru again ran a fiscal surplus because of domestic demand, high commodity prices, exports, and foreign investment. As of 2016, Peru maintained a fiscal budget deficit of 3.1% of GDP ($6.4 billion). This is largely due to growing public debt, which rose 12.9% from 2015, resulting from infrastructure and government modernization investment.