Peru expected to hold rates

Analysts expect Peru’s central bank to hold rates at 4% when it meets today, although one says a rate cut is possible. The bank held rates in December after a surprise cut in November from 4.25%. Before that, rates had been stable for more than two years. Peru’s reported lower-than-expected inflation in December, bringing the annual rate to 2.86% for 2013, inside the central bank’s 1% to 3% target. That gives the central bank some freedom, says the analyst. The central bank revised down its 2013 GDP growth expectations, to 5.1%, from 5.5%, in December. The deceleration could spur a rate cut, but waiting would give the economy an opportunity to stabilize, the analyst said.