Peru's economy ministry on Thursday lowered the country's economic growth forecast to 3.3% this year as the nation faces political turmoil, falling metal prices, high inflation and the effects of the war in Ukraine.

In May, the ministry had forecast gross domestic product (GDP) would expand 3.6% this year.

The downward revision came on the back of "transitory supply shocks" that affected the primary sector in the first half of the year, including social unrest, and less favorable external conditions, the ministry said in a report.

For 2023, the Andean country forecasts growth of 3.5%, boosted by a larger mining supply and the normalization of economic activities hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer, saw operations at the giant MMG Ltd-owned Las Bambas mine halted from the second half of April to early June as indigenous communities protested at the site.

Earlier this year, it also faced a wave of anti-government protests sparked by rising fuel and fertilizer prices in the wake of the Ukrainian war, while President Pedro Castillo reshuffled his cabinet several times as prosecutors investigate his close allies and family members.

The South American country has also been grappling with high inflation, which reached the highest level in a quarter of a century in June. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan and Kim Coghill)


Reuters