Saturday, March 12, 2011

Peru Looks To Create Sovereign Wealth Fund To Protect From Downturns

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Peru's economy will likely continue its growth trends this year, but there is concern about the global impact of commodity prices on the Latin American country, said Peru's Finance Minister Ismael Benavides on Friday.

The Peruvian government is looking to create a sovereign wealth fund to help protect the economy against future downturns, he said. The fund will likely be initially created within Peru's existing stabilization fund, and the process will likely begin within the next few weeks, he added.

The existing stabilization fund has about $2 billion, he said.

In addition, Peru could tap the international bond market this year, though it's not clear whether it would issue a global bond before April's presidential elections, he said.

"We would like to look at doing something this year, either with this government or with the incoming government," the minister said.

Peru will start issuing local bonds this month and continue throughout the year, he added.

Source: The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com

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